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Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland situated in the southern
part of the country by the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. Helsinki, together
with the neighbouring cities of Vantaa and Espoo, constitute the capital region
with over 1,000,000 inhabitants. Helsinki is the administrative centre of
Finland and also the centre of Finnish cultural life and business activity.
There is a large and varied collection of museums, galleries, and performance
spaces in the city.
Helsinki was founded in 1550 by King Gustav I of Sweden. For a long time it
remained a small coastal town, overshadowed by the more thriving trade centres
in the Baltic region. The construction of the Suomenlinna fortress helped
improve its status, but it was not until Russia annexed Finland as the
autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 that Helsinki began to develop into a
major city. After moving capital to Helsinki, city saw unprecedented growth and
development. This transformation is highly apparent in the downtown core, which
was rebuilt in neoclassical style to resemble St. Petersburg (Russia).
The role of Helsinki as a capital increased even more after Finland became
independent in 1917. Now Finland is one of the member states of the European
Union. The local currency is Euro.
Carl Ludvig Engel (1778-1840) designed several neo-classical buildings in
Helsinki. He was kept in Helsinki by a unique assignment, as he was elected to
plan a new city centre all on his own. The city became shallow and wide at the
time when most buildings had only two or three floors. The central point of
Engel's city plan is the Senate Square, surrounded by the Government's Palace,
the main building of the University, and the enormous Cathedral, which was
finished in 1852.
Cultural program includes tour of the central historic part of the city,
including walk on the Senate Square and Cathedral, market square and the biggest
Orthodox church in Western Europe, Uspenski Cathedral (built in 1862-1868).
Another tour options, if there are enough participants, is to visit Suomenlinna
castle, as well as to visit to Korkeasaari, the Helsinki zoo island.
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