Cathedral of St. Nicholas, Helsinki: history, description and interesting facts

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Helsinki) is the main Evangelical-Lutheran church of the country and is located on the Senate Square of the capital of Finland, in the northern part. This is a fairly popular tourist attraction, since annually the temple is visited by approximately 500,000 people from different parts of the world. Also the cathedral is called the symbol of the city of Helsinki and a unique architectural monument, a building with an unusual history and a special importance for the state.

Cathedral of St. Nicholas: history

In 1812, Finland was part of the Russian Empire, and Helsinki on this occasion, Alexander I proclaimed the capital of the Grand Duchy. Accordingly, the city had to justify its status, and the emperor ordered to rebuild it according to all the rules. Then the capital was very small, with a population of just over 3,000 people and also severely destroyed after a major fire that occurred in the early 19th century.

In short, Helsinki needed complete reconstruction and restructuring. The planning of the city was carried out by a special committee headed by Johan Albrecht Ehrenström. The capital was planned to be built up so that it acquired a rectangular-square shape.

The design of the city buildings was mainly occupied by Karl Ludwig Engel - the German architect. It was he who made it so that the look of Helsinki acquired the style of classicism. Engel was a designer of buildings:

• The Senate Palace.
• The main building of the University.
• The building of the University Library.
• The cathedral, including its main entrance.

The latter is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Helsinki). The architect began with the demolition of existing buildings on the Senate Square: the Church of Ulrika Eleonora, which was built of wood in 1724, the town hall, other old buildings and a cemetery. When the territory was cleared, they began building the temple. It was erected simultaneously with the famous and impressive architectural creation of St. Isaac's Cathedral. In this regard, you can even observe some similarities in the style and manner of decorating the interior and exterior.

So, Engel himself, the talented architect of his time, designed the building and began construction. But the construction of the cathedral took a long time, 22 years, by the end of the construction the architect died. The students of Karl Ludwig continued to implement the project under the guidance of another architect Lormann, who modified the project of his predecessor a little. They opened the church in 1938. This is a majestic building in the style of neoclassicism (some sources point to classicism), which can safely be called the main decoration of the central city square of Helsinki.

Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Helsinki): description of the ex-terrier

The temple is an architectural structure, made in the form of a Greek cross. Has a symmetrical shape and five domes. The first, the most important, is the symbolic designation of Christ. It is surrounded by the other four domes. As you might guess, these are the canonical Gospels: Mark, Luke, Matthew and John. On each side a pediment of triangular form and Corinthian columns are distinguished. The facades separate the pilasters and decorate the bas-reliefs. Each of them shows a scene from the life of Christ.

The main entrance is crowned with the engraved name "Yahweh". Over the columns, along the sides of the pediments, were the figures of 12 apostles cast from zinc.

Interior of the Cathedral Church

Inside the Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Helsinki) is quite simply decorated. Everything is only the most necessary and important, there is nothing superfluous, excessive. No pomposity, often found in other Orthodox churches. The walls are snow-white, and the corners neatly contain the monuments to the figures of the church reformation, who achieved a lot in this direction, for example, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchtov and Mikael Agricole.

In the eastern part of the room there is an altar, as it should be in Orthodox churches. On the sides of it, the angels are the works of the German sculptor Bleser. There is also an organ with 57 registers, made in Denmark in 1967.

Interesting facts and additional information about the church

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Helsinki) is equipped with a crypt - it's a vaulted lower floor, usually located under the altar or choral zone. It can accommodate up to 500 people. There is a new altar, regular community meetings, concerts and exhibitions. It is interesting that in the crypt there is even a cafe of the same name.

The temple is considered to be the most important for the country, therefore many significant events are held on its territory for the city and for Finland. For example, ecumenical services, when several confessions are gathered in one church, or worship services in honor of holidays.

What do tourists need to know?

The Cathedral of St. Nicholas (Helsinki, Finland) is located at Unioninkatu 29, 00170. It is open every day from 9 am to 6 pm, and the second and third summer months to 12 noon. Here you can take pictures of the interior and exterior, in the bell tower there is a souvenir shop that works in the summer. In the same period, the Crypta Cafe is also open.

Church celebrations, services and classes in the cathedral

Every day in the church there are divine services, and on Wednesdays for 12 months a year at noon you can enjoy the charming sounds of the organ. Confession is possible in the evening, and on holidays it is necessary to come to service in the morning.

Archpriest conducts lessons of the Law of God with children. St. Nicholas Cathedral in Helsinki offers to buy a variety of church utensils, there is also sold spiritual literature in Russian, there is a library.

It is possible to hold wedding ceremonies, sacraments of baptism and funerals. All this is completely free, on the territory of the chapel.

The cathedral is the main attraction of the city and the executive church, which offers a variety of services to its visitors. It is noteworthy that the services here are held not only in Finnish, but also in the Church Slavonic language. Snow-white Cathedral of St. Nicholas, of course, should be one of the first places that a guest of the city of Helsinki will visit.