Maupertuis’ Torne Valley

Almost 300 years ago, science history was made in the Torne Valley.

In the early 1700s, there were competing theories about the shape of the Earth in European scientific circles. Is the Earth flattened or elongated at the poles?

The French Académie des sciences sent an expedition to the Arctic Circle in 1736–1737 to find the solution. The expedition was led by mathematician and astronomer Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis.

A guide to Maupertuis’ Torne Valley leads you to the footsteps of the degree-measuring expedition to the historical measuring points of the chain of survey triangulations.

100 years later, the same measuring points were used to measure the Struve chain. Today, they are perfect excursion destinations.

Aavasaksa and the Ylitornio region were key measuring points for the French.

Webpage: https://www.maupertuis.fi/en/