Thursday September 25 was mainly sunny with a high of 15C. Great walking weather! We headed out at around 10:30 a.m. to stop at the Tourist Information Office before meeting our Free Walking Tour (pay with tips) that started at 11:30 a.m. The Tourist Office and our meeting place were both located on Senate Square about a 20 minute walk from our apartment.
 |
| View of Cathedral from Senate Square (Senaatintori) |
Our Walking Tour guide was Jolantha, originally from Germany, who has lived in Helsinki for the past eight years. She came as an exchange student and stayed. She was very knowledgeable about the history and culture of Finland. She gave us a great summary of the history of Finland and Helsinki. In a nutshell, Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden for 700 years. In 1809, Finland was captured by Russia from Sweden, and became an autonomous Grand Duchy. Tsar Alexander I engaged German architect Carl Ludvig Engel to design a central square befitting of its new status. Engel envisioned a neoclassical square. Lined with yellow coloured buildings, the centrepiece was the Lutheran Helsinki Cathedral which sits at the top of a stairway overlooking the Senate Square. On one side of the Square was the former Senate building, which now houses the Prime Minster's Office. It should be noted that the Senate was abolished in 1918. On the other side is a building of the University of Helsinki.
According to Jolantha, Tsar Alexander I was reasonably progressive and Finnish culture and language was allowed to flourish. Later Tsars were not as benign and the degree of autonomy varied. Finnish nationalism flourished during these years. Finland remained a Grand Duchy under the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. In November 1917, the Bolsheviks declared a general right of self-determination "for the Peoples of Russia", including the right of succession. On December 6, 1917, Finland's Parliament voted to declare independence. On December 18, the Soviet government issued a Decree, recognizing Finland's Independence. Following the declaration of independence, Civil War broke out between the Whites (the Swedish speaking middle and upper classes, the farmers and peasantry) and the Reds (comprising of Finnish speaking urban workers and the landless rural cottagers). The defeat of the Reds was achieved with support from Imperial Germany.
Initially, Parliament controlled by the Whites voted to establish a constitutional monarchy with a German prince as king. However, after Germany's defeat in WWI, Finland instead became a republic.
On November 30, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Finland (the Winter War) with the aim of annexing Finland into the Soviet Union. After two months of negligible progress on the battlefield, the Soviet government recognised the legal Finnish government as legitimate. Fighting ended in March 1940, but 9% of Finland's territory was ceded to the Soviet Union. Our guide told us that after the Winter War, the Finnish army needed recovery and support. The UK declined to help but in the autumn 1940, Nazi Germany offered weapons deals to Finland if the Finnish government allowed German troops to travel through Finland to German-occupied Norway. Finland accepted.
Hostilities resumed in June 1941 with the start of the Continuation War, when Finland aligned with Germany following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. Eventually there was an armistice with the Soviet Union which compelled Finland to drive German troops from its territory, leading to the Lapland War (1944-45). Finland did have to pay large reparations and resettle an eight of its population after it lost an eighth of its territory to the Soviets.
Finland joined the European Union in 1995 and in April 2024, Finland joined NATO.
 |
| Former Senate building on one side of the square (now Prime Minister's Office) |
 |
| The University of Helsinki on the other side of the Square |
 |
| Statue of Tsar Alexander I in the middle of the Square. |
Jolantha also told us that the two official languages in Finland are Finnish and Swedish. All the street signs are in both languages. We had noticed in the bus that we took from the airport, that each stop flashed two very different names (now we know why!). Swedish is the first foreign language children learn in school, followed by English. However, most people in Finland do not use Swedish on a daily basis and it is often forgotten, while English is very prevalent in the city.
Jolantha pointed out the Helsinki City Museum very near Senate Square.
 |
| Helsinki City Museum |
We then walked over to the Uspenski Cathedral, located on the top of Helsinki's highest hill. It is the largest Eastern Orthodox Church in Western Europe. It was designed by the Russian architect Aleksey Gornostayev (1808-1862) and was built after his death. It was inaugurated in October 1868. The majority of Finns belong to the Lutheran Church (60-70%), there is a small proportion that are Orthodox (around 1.1%). A large portion of the population (around 30-35%) has no religious affiliation.
 |
| Uspenski Cathedral |
Jolantha then showed us the House of the Finnish Nobility which was built in 1862. The Finnish nobility was the first of the four estates of the realm from 1809 to 1906 (nobility, clergy, burghers (townspeople) and peasants). The traditional estate system was replaced by a modern democratic system. Today, the House of Nobility is a hereditary association of members of registered nobility. The building is not open to the public, but is used for events.
 |
| The House of Nobility |
We walked down to the water, passing by the Presidential Palace.
 |
| Presidential Palace- the yellow building with the columns |
Jolantha then took us to see the Allas Sea Pool Saunas. It has five saunas, a warm water pool and a seawater pool with clean, filtered Baltic Sea water. Three of the saunas are on the floating pool deck. We saw a number of people leaving the saunas to head to the pools. Apparently there are more saunas than cars in Finland. Most people have saunas in their houses or their apartment buildings. Some offices even have saunas where workers socialize at the end of the week. Truly, a wonderful tradition. As an aside, I remember going to University of Toronto's Hart House farm (in Caledon) in 1970/71 and going to the sauna that some Finnish students had built in 1955.
 |
| Saunas at Allas Sea Pool |
There was also a nearby ferris wheel (SkySauna) that has a sauna gondola which opened to the public in 2014. It operates from April to November and is available for a group rental (240 euros an hour).
 |
| The sauna is the brown gondola |
We then walked down to the lovely Esplanadi Park. It is an oblong park, locally known as "Espa". It is one of Helsinki's most beloved green spaces. It was designed by architect Carl Ludvig Engel and stretches for four blocks. The nearby streets are lined with elegant cafés and shops.
 |
| A fountain where high school graduates gather |
 |
| Jolantha our Guide |
 |
| Flowers in the park |
The statue in the middle of the Esplanadi Park is that of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the Finnish- Swedish author, national poet, author of Finland's national anthem, and priest (1804-1877). The statue was designed and sculpted by his son Walter Runeberg (1838-1920). At the foot of the pedestal there is a young woman wrapped in bearskin symbolizing Maiden of Finland. She is holding an inscription of the Finnish national anthem in Runeberg's native language - Swedish.
 |
1885 Statue of Johan Ludvig Runeberg with Finland's national anthem written in Swedish.
|
We stopped in front of the Kansallisteatteri (Finnish National Theatre) which was established in 1872 and is Finland's oldest professional theatre company performing in Finnish. The building was completed in 1902 and showcases the Finnish national romantic style. There is a bronze statue of Aleksis Kivi, one of Findland's greatest writers in front of the Theatre.
 |
| Finnish National Theatre |
We stopped to admire the Central Railway Station which is considered one of the world's most beautiful. It opened in 1919 and is an amazing example of a Jugendstil (art nouveau) building.
 |
| Side of the Central Railway Station |
 |
| We walked through the station-- actually reminded me a bit of the inside of Toronto Union Station |
The main entrance is flanked by tall granite statues (the Lantern Bearers). They sometimes are costumed for Finnish events-- including ice hockey victories.
 |
| Front entrance |
We then walked over to an area with many modern buildings. Out guide first pointed out the Parliament building which was on a hill near the newer buildings.
Parliament House was inaugurated in 1931. It has 14 stately pillars and represents 1920s Nordic classicism. It underwent extensive renovations and reopened in 2017.
 |
| Parliament building |
We also stopped to admire the Oodi, one of Helsinki's latest architectural highlights which opened in 2018 and was named the World's Best New Public Library in 2019. It is a modern community hub with a cinema, cafés, music and gaming rooms. The library system evolved hand in hand with the country's free education system. Our guide also discussed Finland's great social safety net and education system. While there are issues with the health care system (wait times and private health care), the jewel in the crown is Finland's education system which is free, including university. One hot meal a day is also provided to public school students as well as books and supplies.
 |
| Outside of the Oodi Library |
 |
| Another view of the fir wood and glass building |
Our guide pointed out the glass Sanomatalo Media Hub building which we would return to after our tour. It was the first glass structure in Helsinki completed in 1999. It houses Sanoma Media and its newspapers (including Helsingin Sanomat-the paper of record in Helsinki), TV channels and Radio stations. The building was designed in glass to represent the transparency of the media. The glass building was controversial and environmentalists protested against the glass walls because they might cause bird deaths.
 |
| Outside of the Sanomatalo Media Hub |
Our guide pointed out the Musikkitalo (Helsinki Music Centre). It opened in 2011 and is the home of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki. It also hosts pop, jazz and global music performances. Apparently the Centre houses the largest modern concert-hall organ in the world which was installed in January 2024.
 |
| Helsinki Music Centre |
Finally, in the distance we saw Finlandia Hall, one of the most visible of Alvar Aalto's Helsinki buildings. The concert hall opened in 1971. It recently underwent a major renovation with additional venue that has a café and terrance. Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) is celebrated as one of Finland's most influential architects and designers and is recognized globally as a pioneer of mid-century modernism. He married architect and designer Aino Marsio (1894-1949) in 1925. They worked together on many designs and buildings and along with two others founded the design company Artek.
 |
| Finlandia Centre |
The tour ended at about 1:30 p.m. Jolantha was an excellent guide and we learned a lot about Finnish history and culture and got a real feel of a number of areas of the city, including both older and newer architecture.
We decided to explore a number of the newer buildings that we had just seen. We started with the Oodi Library.
Entrance with many tables set up for chess
 |
| Lots of folks hanging on the second floor |
 |
| Books on the wavy third floor |
We checked out the library's three floors which even had an area with sewing machines (a few people
were working on projects), gaming stations, an area with 3D equipment, and lots of separate rooms with computers. There were also some music rooms and music equipment. Groups of students can also get rooms to work together.
We then crossed the street and went into the Sanomatalo Media Hub. While most of the building is occupied by media organizations, the lower two floors are commercial and exhibition spaces.
 |
| Inside of the Sanomatalo building |
Our guide had pointed out that there was a "tip booth" on the main floor, where people could leave anonymous tips to one of the newspapers. As the building was not far from Parliament, there have been tips left that have led to investigations of parliamentarians.
 |
Allan had to check out the "tip booth" which has an old landline phone
|
We stopped at Fazer Café in one corner of the building, for a late lunch. There are a number of Fazer
Cafés in Helsinki.
 |
| Fazer Café |
 |
| I had the lovely shrimp and egg open-face sandwich and Allan had the smoked salmon. |
We then checked out Kiasma, the modern contemporary art museum.
 |
| Sculpture in park near the Museum |
 |
Mannerheim (1867-1951) beside the Museum
Baron Carl Gustav Emil Mannerheim was a contested figure in Finnish history. He served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War and President of Finland from 1944-1946. The statue was located beside the Kiasma museum. |
We checked out the Kiasma contemporary art museum, whose name from the Greek chiasma (meaning a crossing where two things meet), evokes the intersection of ideas and creativity. It was designed by American architect Steven Holl in 1998. There is also a theatre on the first floor. We took a pass on the current exhibit.
 |
| Front of the Kiasma contemporary art museum |
 |
Side of the museum with pool and sculpture
|
 |
| Back of the Kiasma museum |
 |
| Great city! |
 |
| Outside the Helsinki Music Hall- we went inside and checked out the performances. Unfortunately, an interesting jazz concert was sold out. |
 |
| Fish sculptures outside of the Music Hall |
 |
| Allan playing on a stone xylophone made of black granite. |
We wandered back to the Old Market Hall near the water. A number of the stalls were closed, but we got some fresh perch and some herring for dinner.
We walked back to the apartment.
 |
| A nice shot of the Helsinki Cathedral |
 |
| We passed a plaque honouring the two architects of many of the monuments in Senate Square. |
 |
| Crossing the bridge-- picture looking the other way from this morning's photo. |
 |
| The light was lovely on the sign at the Market Hall across from our apartment. |
Allan made dinner with fresh perch, potatoes, mushrooms and zucchini. We shared a large can of lonkeroa-- (Hartwall Original Long Drink) of Gin and Pink Grapefruit. Just under 20,000 steps!!
We are really enjoying our time in Helsinki and saw and learned a lot on our first full day in the city.
Comments
Post a Comment