Affectionately known as the
’
Daughter of the Baltic’, the city sits at the arrowhead of a peninsula, surrounded by an
archipelago of
315 islands, perfectly placed between its two great trading cousins,
Stockholm and
Moscow.
The city’s population just teeters over
half a million, and with its tallest city center building only 12 storys high, Helsinki seems
almost provincial. However, statistics reveal that the city is one of the
fastest growing areas in the European Union. Within the last decade, over 100,000
inhabitants have moved into greater Helsinki and by the year 2030, government statistics predict over 1.3 million people will be living within the region.
From a European perspective, Helsinki is
relatively young (450 years), yet it is Finland’s sixth oldest town. The
Swedes, who extended their empire into Finland in 1155, founded the city of ’
Helsingfors’ (the name still used by the Swedes) in 1550, when King Gustav Vasa needed a site for a strategic and competitively placed
trading port.
It languished as a
coastal backwater until
Imperialist Russia invaded in 1809. The Grand Duchy required a new power base and Helsinki was chosen because of its trump card, the massive
sea fortress (now a
UNESCO World Heritage Site) of Suomenlinna.
Modern Helsinki was born when Finland gained
independence from Russia in 1917. The new republic
boomed throughout the
1920s and 30s, when the architectural movements of the era (
Modernism and
Functionalism) were fathered by one of Finland’s most famous sons, internationally acclaimed architect
Alvar Aalto.
Helsinki stepped onto the world stage when the
Olympic Stadium was completed in 1938, although the games were postponed due to the war and were finally held there in
1952. It still holds the record as the smallest city in the world to host the
Olympic Games.
Finland became a member of the
European Union in
1995, securing Helsinki’s ties with Europe. The city’s distinctive ’
East meets West’
culture is symbolised in the contrast between the cool, clean lines of Finlandia Hall and the rich golden ’onion’ dome of Uspenski Cathedral.
The center of the city, the
neoclassical mini-St Petersburg built by German-born architect Carl Engel, is
easily explored on foot and most of the main sights are within walking distance of the center.
The pace of Helsinki life varies with the seasons. In the
summer, when average temperatures climb to 18°C (64°F) and above, the whole city comes
alive. The bars overflow onto the streets and throughout July and August, the Finns revel in
20-hour-long summer days. Temperatures can sometimes reach 28°C (82°F), a climatic oddity that has been attributed to global warming.
In
winter, they
plummet to an average of - 5°C (23°F) and the city goes
underground, becoming a
creative hive of
productivity. These long, dark nights have led
Helsinkiläiset (Helsinkians) to be one of the world’s
most ’
connected’
people on the planet.
Perhaps it is the balance between these two climatic extremes that conspires to make Helsinki one of Europe’s most
creative and
technologically progressive capitals.
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Related Helsinki Content
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
Related Finland Content
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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