Churches in Helsinki – What you should most definitely see while in Helsinki

Helsinki is a city with several beautiful churches located near the city centrum. Helsinki, as it is already 450 years old, has seen all the phases of modern history. 

Helsinki was founded in 1550 when Finland was under the rule of Sweden and plans in that time was to build a harbor city to compete with Tallin, on the other side of the Gulf of Finland.


First couple decades of Helsinki were not that bright and shiny, but in the early 1800, when Finland was under Russian rule Helsinki was made the capital of Finland and then began the rise of Helsinki.

During that time, began also the architectural renaissance in Helsinki and then was built maybe the best know church in Helsinki, the Helsinki Cathedral (Helsingin Tuomiokirkko). It is a distinctive landmark in the Helsinki cityscape, with its green main dome and four smaller ones. Architectural style of the building is neoclassical.  

Helsinki Cathedral is the “main” church in Helsinki and should be visited while in Helsinki. It’s a good place to take memorable pictures and visit, because there is on entrance fee and you can just sit and relax there for a while. Helsinki Cathedral is located in the district of Kruununhaka and there are lots of other beautiful buildings dating to that period of time.

Another church that dates to that time is the Uspenski Cathedral, which is the largest Orthodox church in Western Europe. Uspenski Cathedral was built during 1860s. It resembles clearly the Russian Orthodox church architecture which takes its design elements from Byzantine architecture and is thus called neo-Byzantine architecture.

Entrance is free and its located in the district of Katajanokka. If church architecture is your thing, you should most definitely visit Uspenski Cathedral after visiting the Helsinki Cathedral to see the contrast between Protestant and Orthodox church design.

The most modern church in Helsinki is by far the Rock Church (Temppeliaukion Kirkko). It was built in the 1960s and what makes it special is that its interior was excavated and built directly out of solid rock. The Rock Church bathes in natural light which enters the through the glaze dome.

The Rock Church is not that much of a looker from the outside, but from the inside, it is something different. This is the reason why the church is visited by over a half a million visitors annually. This is a must see church while in Helsinki.

There are several other churches in Helsinki as well and most of them are located near the city central and are accessible by foot during a nice summer day. One is these other churches is Kallio Church, which represents Jugend architectural design. If you wish to select your hotels location wisely when sightseeing Helsinki by foot, you should check Hotels in the district of Kaisaniemi. This area is located in the middle of Helsinki, it has metro station and several tram and bus lines. Also the main railway station is located near Kaisaniemi

Have fun time in Helsinki and remember that the best way is to go by foot or take the tram line 3, which circles around the central areas of the city!