14/07/2024
The Struve Geodetic Arc
The Aavasaksa point - Avasaksa as it was called by Struve's team - was measured in 1845 on the highest point of the hill.
The point was marked with crosses carved in the rock which are now under an observation tower built in 1969.
The members of the expedition measuring the Struve Geodetic Arc made accurate descriptions of their work.
Of the crosses that were marked, one is the actual centre mark.
The second mark was measured 2.4 French feet (0.77 metres) to the west of the centre mark and the third mark 3.2 French feet (1.04 metres) to the east of the centre mark.
Before Struve's expedition, Aavasaksa had become well-known for the measurements taken in the 1730s by the Frenchman Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis.
Maupertuis proved with his measurements that the Earth is flattened at the poles.
Maupertuis lauded Aavasaksa as the most beautiful place in the Tornionlaakso valley, and it has been known ever since for its natural splendour and the mid-night sun.
However, the surveyors did not choose Aavasaksa as a station point because of its natural beauty, but because there was good visibility from the top of the hill to other points.
The Struve Geodetic Arc
is a chain of triangulation stretching more or less down the 26° E line of longitude from near Hammerfest on the Arctic Ocean over 2,820 km south to Izmail on the Black Sea.
The survey was carried out between 1816 and 1855 under the guidance of F.G.W.
Struve.
The scheme included 258 main triangles with 265 main and over 60 subsidiary station points.
The selection of points involves a total of 34 sites on the Struve Geodetic Arc.
In today's geography, the Arc passes through ten countries, viz. Norway (4 station points), Sweden (4), Finland (6), the Russian Federation (2), Estonia (3), Latvia (2), Lithuania (3), Belarus (5), the Republic of Moldova (1) and Ukraine (4).
The Struve Geodetic Arc was added to the
UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2005.