Helsinki, Finland Part 1 - the city and the Rock Church

I was really looking forward to my visit to Finland, because my nephew lived there for some years, and I had heard so much from many sources about its excellent economic management, education system and health care system. 

I also had been told Finns are very reserved, quiet people. They never bounce up to people to say hullo, not even to their friends. They do not initiate conversations. So imagine my utter surprise when the first thing we saw as we were leaving the port area was a giant, very quirky sculpture called ‘Naughty Boy’. Below him was a pool of water, so you can guess what this naked boy was doing. Goodness, I thought, they may be reserved but underneath all that Finns have a sense of humour. And a deliciously naughty one at that. Most unfortunately we sped by this artwork so quickly, I was unable to photograph it. 

Anyhow, we drove through the city to a square known as Senate Square, where their main cathedral was located. This was a Lutheran cathedral - a very stately, green and gold domed edifice! Like many of the countries in this region, a high proportion of the population is Lutheran. Near it was a sign on a fence celebrating 100 years of Finland - perhaps it’s freedom from Swedish rule? On another side of the square was one of their university buildings. Apparently different schools of the university are located in different parts of the city - they are not all together in a single campus. We also saw a number of trams trundle past. I have now seen many cities in Europe and Asia that have trams - Melbourne is by no means unique in its system of trams. 

As we drove through the city, we noticed that roadworks and building works were happening all over the city. Our guide told us that Finland has two seasons: “Winter and Roadworks” . . .

After that we drove for about an hour into the lush green countryside to visit a small village. I will tell you about that in the next post. For this post I want to end by telling you about a most unique place in the city that we visited on the way back to the ship. This was the Rock Church. Apparently there was a competition to design a new church for this rocky spot in the city. The choice of the winning design surprised everyone, as all the other designs were so traditional. But now it is a place where brides love to have their weddings and where tourists flock. It is just so different but very impressive. 

Carved out of the rock, the entrance looks like the entrance to a bunker. But inside is stunning. The main feature is a huge, shallow copper dome ceiling, made from many kilometres of coiled  copper wire. The small gaps between the coils absorb sound, so there is no echo. There was a lady playing a grand piano in there when we visited - the sound was simply perfect. The church was much larger than you would expect too. I hope my photos help you ‘see’ show amazing this structure is. 

By the way, our guide told us that Finns appear reserved because they respect the right of other people to think their own thoughts without being interrupted. It is not because they are aloof. All I know is everyone we met on our journey in Finland was very friendly. 

The Lutheran cathedral. We only were given a 5-minute photo stop at this square. 

I zoomed into the dome of the cathedral, 

The frontage of the university building at the square. 

The sign I mentioned.  Fortunately it included an English translation. 

Just inside the Rock Church. Notice the wall carved out of rock. 

The entrance to the Rock Church.

Inside the Rock Church. Extraordinary! 

Zooming in on the copper coil. It gave the church such a warm glow.