Helsinki Cathedral
The white church with green domes crowns Senate Square in the middle of Engel’s new capital. It has the form of a Greek cross with a temple portico on each side. Together with the Senate building and the University it forms the most complete neoclassical square in the Nordic countries.
When Finland became a grand duchy under Russia in 1809, the capital was moved from Turku to Helsinki in 1812. The German-born architect Carl Ludvig Engel was given the task of giving the city a monumental centre, and he designed most of the buildings around Senate Square. The church, then called St Nicholas’ Church after Tsar Nicholas I, was begun in 1830. Engel died in 1840, and the work was completed by Ernst Lohrmann, who altered the designs. The church was consecrated in 1852.
The plan is a Greek cross with four arms of equal length, each ending in a portico with Corinthian columns and a pediment. Over the centre rises a tall drum with a green dome. Lohrmann added four smaller domes at the corners, a change that strengthened the resemblance to Russian churches and that Engel had not planned. He also had statues of the apostles placed on the roof. The church interior is bright and simple, in keeping with the Lutheran tradition. The great flight of steps down to the square became part of the city’s public space.
After Finnish independence in 1917 the church was renamed the Great Church, and since 1959 it has been the cathedral of the diocese of Helsinki. The steps are used for concerts and gatherings, and at New Year and student celebrations crowds gather here. Senate Square, with the church, the Senate building and the university’s main building, is one of the most complete examples of neoclassical town planning in the Nordic countries. Engel’s work gave Helsinki the nickname the White City of the North.