The Old Church, Helsinki, Finland

The old church of Helsinki was designed by famous architect C. L. Engel and completed in 1826. It was originally mentioned to be temporary church for the construction time of new cathedral in Senate Square.

When the old Ulrika Eleonora Church was demolished, the recovered building materials and part of the movables were auctioned but some of the furnishings including the pulpit, benches and chandeliers as well as the organ were relocated to the newly built church. These furnishings were however replaced over the years with the exception of the pulpit. A new 36 stop organ built by Per Larsson Åkermann was installed in 1869.

The altarpiece painted by Robert Wilhelm Ekman was initially commissioned for Helsinki Cathedral, but was instead placed in the Old Church in 1854.

The old park, called also as “the Plague Park” , surrounding the church was originally a cemetery. It’s name cames from the time of Great Wrath (1710), when many victims of plague were buried to the ground. The latest burial was made in 1919. At the northeast corner of park lies the tomb of merchant Johan Sederholm (1722-1805).

At weekends the church is popular place for weddings and other events.

User Reviews

AD_X (7 years ago)
Noice

Harri Kirjonen (7 years ago)
Nice Old church

Patrick Mwangi (7 years ago)
It's in a nice park and secure for a picnic during summer time, enough space for friends get together.

George On tour (7 years ago)
The Old Church of Helsinki (Finnish: Helsingin vanha kirkko, Swedish: Gamla kyrkan i Helsingfors), designed by Carl Ludvig Engel and completed in 1826, is an Evangelical Lutheran church in Helsinki. The oldest existing church in central Helsinki, the church was originally planned as a temporary building as the Ulrika Eleonora Church constructed in 1727 had become too small for the congregation and the new church, Helsinki Cathedral, would not be completed until 1852. However, the city's rapid population growth from the early 19th century onwards ensured that the church would remain needed, and also necessitated the construction of many other churches

Kelsi Vaahtojärvi (7 years ago)
One of the oldest churches in the metropolitan area. It's a lovely little wooden empire church finished a few years before the national cathedral in Senate square.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Zvonimir Hrvoj

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The Old Church

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