The Finnish Transport Agency has created a story map featuring the history of our transport routes in words and pictures using a map application. The aim is to inspire people travelling in Finland to visit these interesting sites.

The story map, “Time travel in Finland: the history of our transport routes”, presents sites of special interest chosen by the Agency, such as historical roads, lighthouses, bridges and canals. These sites include Finnish road, canal and railway museums as well as actual historical railways.

“The idea sprang from the fact that there are so many beautiful historical roads of significance in our country. We thought that a story map would inspire people to visit these and other sites of historical interest”, said Senior Officer Jarmo Koistinen, responsible for the cultural preservation work at the Finnish Transport Agency.
The sites are marked on the story map, and next to each site there is a short presentation of the history and location of the site and other places of interest in the vicinity. The story map has been planned so that it can also be used on mobile devices.

The story map project, “Time travel in Finland”, is part of the official Finland 100 programme.

The history of Finnish transport routes dates back to the Middle Ages, when merchant shipping in the Baltic Sea became increasingly regular and frequent and landowners started to maintain their roads. From the 16th century onwards, the responsibility for building and maintaining the routes was gradually transferred to the state. At present, the Finnish Transport Agency is responsible for managing, maintaining and building Finnish roads, fairways and railways.

The story map is based on the ARcGis Web application model created by ESRI Finland Oy.

(Source: FTA)