Seili, Finland
Posted by: 
Mirtilli
N 60° 14.186 E 021° 57.315
34V E 552899 N 6678125
Seili is a small island (about 2 km from north to south) island 20 minutes (7 km) from Nauvo. Själö or Nagu Själö (in Swedish) or Seili (in Finnish), off the main islands of Nagu, in the Archipelago Sea, off the south west coast of Finland.
Waymark Code: WM9N45
Location: Finland
Date Posted: 09/07/2010
Views: 51
The ferry to Seili is M/S Linta and dispite the other ferries between the nerby island one have to pay for the ride. Linta has been build 1962 in Norge and original purpose was to operate through the fjods. 2002 the ferry was renovated and is now operating between Nuvo- Seili-Hanka.It can carry 99 persons and 10 cars/ 1 bus.
Harbours
There are two small harbours, on the east side for the visitors and on the west side for the ferry
History of Seili
The Finnish name of the island, Seili, is a corruption of the Swedish Själö ('seal island' in English, själ being the old form of säl, or seal). The name indicates that the island has been a retreat for seals and an attraction for seal hunters in early times. Actually Själö, then and at least until the 18th century, comprised two islands separated by a shallow sound, which has disappeared because of the land rising from the sea, an after-effect of glacial compression during the last ice age.
The first hospital on Själö was established in the 1620s. Before that there were two farms on the islands belonging to the Crown and thus available when the authorities looked for a suitable island to which the leper hospital at the outskirts of Turku could be moved.
According to a Royal Decree in 1619 by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, the buildings of the hospital in Turku, with the exception of the chapel, were burned down and the inmates transported to Själö. The Själö hospital for lepers was dedicated to St George. The last leper patient died in 1785, and the establishment on Själö became a hospital or a place of confinement for mentally afflicted people until 1962. The hospital was self-sufficient with agriculture, and fishing. The present-day buildings on the island, with the exception of the chapel (built 1733), date from the 19th and the 20th centuries, and most of them have been built for the mental hospital.
Currently the island hosts the Archipelago Research Institute that is a part of the University of Turku. The research is focused on the surrounding Archipelago Sea as well as the whole Baltic Sea.
Info taken from:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sj%C3%A4l%C3%B6 &
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visit link)