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.