Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland

The story of Olympic Stadium began in 1927, when City of Helsinki and several sport associations created the Stadium Foundation. The purpose of foundation was to build an adequate venue for the summer olympics. Construction of the Olympic Stadium began in 1934 and it was completed in 1938. It was designed in functionalistic style by the architects Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti.

The stadium was built to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were moved from Tokyo to Helsinki before being cancelled due to World War II. After 12 years delay the XVth Olympic Games were finally held in Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 1952. The stadium was also the venue for the first World Athletics Championships in 1983 as well as for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. It is also the home stadium of the Finland national football team.

Olympic Stadium is still in active use. The National Sports Museum is also situated to the stadium and the 72 meters high tower is popular place to see the nice view over the downtown of Helsinki.

User Reviews

Pasi Miettinen (2 years ago)
More of a museum than place for crowded conserts. Long lines for everything and the old architecture doesn't help solving that problem.

Nathan Scott (2 years ago)
Rammstein. All in all, it was a fairly small stadium for an Olympic stadium, but it got the job done. Being an Australian, it was a surprise to see that we weren't allowed to take alcoholic drinks in to the actual arena area. Food selection at this event was lacking somewhat... I ended up have Shrimp Skagen.... It was pretty good.

Yijie Xu (2 years ago)
Visited during the Rammstein world tour. The stadium is large and relatively modern, with numerous bathroom and food and beverage facilities spaced out intermittently. Make sure to walk on further to find free toilets. Space is able to host everything from concerts to football matches, with inner indoor facilities open for booking as well. Note that due to the lack of actual kitchen space food services tend to be spartan and poor, so eat something before your gig. You'll find beverages, alcoholic and non-alc, to be freely available.

Daniel Šilha (2 years ago)
Great view and lovely stuf at the reception. Don’t be shy and definitly go there! You won’t get higher than that in Helsinky.

Dnyaneshwar Suryawanshi (3 years ago)
The stadium is awesome. But I wasn't allowed my water bottle to be taken inside. So I had to throw that outside

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright caminanteK

Historic Site of the week

Château de Foix

The Château de Foix dominates the town of Foix. An important tourist site, it is known as a centre of the Cathars. Built on an older 7th-century fortification, the castle is known from 987. In 1002, it was mentioned in the will of Roger I, Count of Carcassonne, who bequeathed the fortress to his youngest child, Bernard. In effect, the family ruling over the region were installed here which allowed them to control access to the upper Ariège valley and to keep surveillance from this strategic point over the lower land, protected behind impregnable walls.

In 1034, the castle became capital of the County of Foix and played a decisive role in medieval military history. During the two following centuries, the castle was home to Counts with shining personalities who became the soul of the Occitan resistance during the crusade against the Albigensians.

Olympic Stadium

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Château de Foix