Helsinki's Esplanade Park - A Place for Promenades Esplanadi Boulevard, Esplanade Park... however it's called, no visit to Helsinki can be considered complete without a visit to The Esplanade. Without doubt, that this section of Helsinki near the centre of town is a tourist delight. A hundred years ago, and for the hundred years before that, Finland struggled for identity. Long a province of Sweden, then later of Russia, with Lapland in the north, it is a land of many cultures. Nowhere … [Read more...]
Helsinki – Finland’s Capital City
July 30, 2010 by
Helsinki, A Fascinating Mixture of Historical and Ultra-Modern: Helsinki, the capital of Finland, has the distinction of being the second northern-most capital city in the world. Although its main attractions and monuments are a stark reminder of its past history, Helsinki today is a very modern city. Although Helsinki has been the capital of Finland 'only' since 1809 when the Russians first took dominion of the city from Sweden, it was originally founded as the town of Helsingfors in … [Read more...]
Tuomiokirkko – Helsinki Cathedral
June 18, 2010 by
Helsinki's Cathedral Architecture is reminiscent of its time under Russian rule: Tsar Peter of Russia had a well-known impact on St. Petersburg, Russia, the city that bears his name. What is less well-known is the flow-on influence he had on Helsinki. Tsar Peter had been dead for more than a hundred years by the time construction began on Helsinki's famed Lutheran Cathedral. But the architectural stamp his leadership put on St. Petersburg continued on when Finland was held by Russia as a … [Read more...]
The Rock Church or Temppeliaukio Kirkko – Helsinki
January 8, 2010 by
The Rock Church - an interesting piece of modern architecture: Temppeliaukio Kirkko is more commonly known by its English name The Rock Church or Church in the Rock. It was designed by two architect brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen, who chose a rocky outcrop as the site for their church. The underground Rock Church was built inside of a massive block of natural granite in the middle of Töölö , an ordinary residential square in Helsinki. It must have given residents an almighty … [Read more...]
The Sibelius Monument – Helsinki
January 8, 2010 by
A Controversial Monument in Honour of Sibelius, Finland's Famous Composer: One of Helsinki's famous landmarks is the Sibelius Monument which was built to honour Finland's national composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957). Who would have thought that the erection of a monument to honour a famous composer would elicit such heated debate, but apparently the whole of Finland got engaged in an unprecedented public debate about the design. After Sibelius' death in 1957, the Sibelius Society … [Read more...]