Helsinki was founded in 1550 by Swedish king Gustav Vasa. The king longed to create a rival to the Hansa trading town of Tallin, the present-day capital of Estonia. By royal decree traders from Ekenäs and a few other towns were bundled off to the newly founded settlement, known as Helsingfors. However, for more than 200 years Helsinki remained a backwater market town on a windy, rocky peninsula. Then, in 1809, Russia annexed Finland from the decaying Swedish empire. A capital closer to St Petersburg was needed to keep a better watch on Finland's domestic politics. Helsinki was chosen - in large part because of the massive sea fortress, now called Suomenlinna, just outside the harbor.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Helsinki grew rapidly in all directions. Railway construction helped the city become an affluent industrial center, and grand art nouveau buildings reflected that wealth. The arts also flourished at the turn of the 20th century, with noted composer Jean Sibelius leading a renaissance of Finnish culture. The Communist revolution of October 1917 enabled Finland to declare independence from Russia. The jubilation was short-lived, however, as the country was plunged into a bloody civil war. The nationalists prevailed in 1918, and Helsinki developed quickly to become a world-class capital. It suffered Russian bombing during WWII, but in the postwar period Helsinki recovered and went on to host the Olympic Games in 1952. In the 1970s and 80s, many new suburbs were built around Helsinki. Helsinki has served as an international conference venue on numerous occasions for everything from weighty economic summits to the World Dog Show. It has become a major technology center and one of Europe's fastest-growing cities.

National Gallery (Ateneum)

The Ateneum houses Finnish paintings and sculptures from the 18th century to the 1950s. There's also a small, interesting collection of 19th- and early-20th-century foreign art, including Auguste Rodin's bronze The Thinker, and paintings by Van Gogh, Gaugin and Cezanne. From portraits and hunting scenes of the Romantic Period, the story continues through landscapes by artists of the Düsseldorf School, then turn-of-the-century Parisian influences, the beginnings of realism, symbolism and some of the most ambitious examples of the Golden Era. International influences can be detected in Finnish Expressionism, Impressionism, Cubism and Surrealism.

The Finnish National Gallery's other main museum, the Sinebrychoff, contains the largest collection of Italian, Dutch and Flemish paintings in Finland. The museum also features Russian and Karelian icons, silver, china and furniture.

National Museum of Finland

The National Museum of Finland presents Finnish life from prehistoric times to the present. The permanent exhibition is divided into five departments. The Treasure Troves contains the museum’s collections of coins, medals, decorations, silver and weapons. The Prehistory of Finland is Finland’s largest archaeological exhibition from sites throughout the country. The Realm tells of the history of Finnish culture and society from the Middle Ages until the beginning of the 20th century. A Land and Its People presents rural life in Finland before industrialization. The Past Century features independent Finland and its culture in the 20th century.

Museum of Cultures

The Museum of Cultures hold the Ethnographic collections and Finno-Ugrian collections of the National Museum of Finland, which in total number around 40 000 objects. Since the beginning of 19th century, Finnish explorers, scientists, and others have added the collections. The Ethnographic collection contains objects from all continents. The founding object in this collection is the rare Salish ceremonial blanket from the North-West America, catalogued in 1828. Objects for the Finno-Ugrian collections have been gathered from all Finno-Ugrian nations. The most valuable objects from the late 19th century and early 20th century were collected on expeditions whose purpose was to discover the origins of the Finnish language and people.

Temppeliaukio Church(Church in the Rock)

Temppeliaukio Church or Church in the Rock remains a foremost Helsinki attraction. Hewn into solid rock, the church features a stunning 78ft diameter roof covered in 13.6 miles of copper stripping. It's a modern Lutheran church carved into the rock outcrops below. The sun shines in from above, illuminating the stunning interior with its birch pews, modern pipe organ, and cavernous walls.

Uspenski Cathedral

This very photogenic red-brick Orthodox cathedral would not look out of place in Moscow. In fact, it's the largest Orthodox cathedral in Western Europe. Designed by St Petersburg architect AM Gornostayev, the Byzantine-Slavonic cathedral is topped with a golden onion dome and its interior is lavishly decorated with icons. Completed in 1868, it was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and remains a testament to the Russian influence on the region. It was styled after an old church built in the 16th century near Moscow in Russia. The bricks were brought from Bomarsund fortress in Aland which had been destroyed during the Crimean War in 1854. The dome is held by four monolithic granite pillars. Altogether, the cathedral has 13 golden onions which represent the number of the Christ and the Apostles.

Seurasaari Open-Air Museum

Seurasaari Island is an open-air museum with 18th- and 19th-century traditional houses, manors and outbuildings from around Finland. Guides dressed in traditional costume demonstrate folk dancing, and crafts such as spinning, embroidery and troll-making. Midsummer Eve is especially festive. Shops sell old-fashioned treats, and folk-dancing performances are scheduled frequently during the summer. On Midsummer Eve a huge bonfire kicks off the celebrations, and a real wedding takes place in the Karuna Church.

The Niemelä tenant farm from Central Finland and the Antti farmstead from south-western Finland form complete environments with all of the original outbuildings intact. The life of the rural gentry is illustrated by the wooden church from Karuna, the Kahiluoto Manor House from south-western Finland and the parsonage from Iisalmi. The museum also includes a Country Shop and several farmhouses and smaller cottages such as the Kurssi and Ivars houses from Ostrobothnia, the Selkämä house from eastern Finland, the Halla house from north-eastern Finland, and the Pertinotsa house from Karelia.

Suomenlinna

On a tight cluster of islands just south of the Helsinki fish market the sea fortress of Suomenlinna. The greatest fortress of the Swedish empire, it was founded in 1748 to protect the eastern part of the empire against Russian attack. However it later fell to the Russians and remained under their control until Finland gained independence in 1917. Most attractions are on the two main islands, Iso Mustasaari and Susisaari, connected by a small bridge. Several museums depict the military and maritime history of the fortress, complete with old bunkers, cannons and model ships. A shipyard dating from the 1750s is still active today, with as many as two dozen ships at the dry dock at any given time. The fields around Suomenlinna's stone ramparts are a favorite picnicking destination for locals.

Visiting Helsinki

Helsinki’s airport is about 12 miles north of the city and has flights from the United States, Europe, and Asia. There is train service between Helsinki and Russia and Sweden, but not Norway. The central train station is connected by a pedestrian tunnel to the city’s metro system. Helsinki is also accessible by bus or car. International ferries travel to Stockholm, Tallin, in Estonia, and Travemünde and Lübeck in Germany. There is also a catamaran and hydrofoil service to Tallin.

Helsinki’s roads are relatively free of traffic, but parking is difficult. The city has a very extensive metro system, which includes busses and metro trains. Bicycling is also a good way to explore the city.