Historical Quarry Landscapes of Three Finnish Granites

Abstract The quarry landscapes of Virolahti, Uusikaupunki, and Vehmaa are results of quarry operations during the most important periods of natural stone quarrying in Finland. The quarry landscape in Virolahti was formed in connection to the quarrying of red Virolahti pyterlite for the construction of St. Petersburg in Russia from the middle of 1700s to the beginning of the 1900s, while in Uusikaupunki, the quarry landscape is connected to the start of the modern Finnish stone industry and the National Romantic architecture at the beginning of the 1900s. The quarry landscape in Vehmaa is related to the start of the modern Finnish stone industry and export of Finnish granite at the beginning of the 1900s. In Virolahti, several small quarries can be seen, while in Vehmaa, a tendency towards fewer, but larger quarries start to emerge. In each area, human settlement was formed around the quarries. The geological basis for all areas is a rock type suitable for natural stone quarrying. The geotechnical features of each rock type indicate high resistance to wear and the products from these areas are early examples of durable construction. The quarry landscapes represent well the typical quarrying technology of the time and its development from channelling by chisels through hand drilling to mechanical drilling and blasting. The quarry areas form unique industrial and cultural heritage landscapes in Finland.