Helsinki Cathedral

An interesting stop on our walking tour. The cathedral is symmetrical on all 4 sides. The entrance you see with the stair case is actually the side entrance, but because the queues used to block the road after the freedom of religion allowed Finland to be Lutheran, they built the stairs to encourage the crowds to the side.

The architect even made sure the buildings in the city square outside were the same each side of the cathedral, meaning one building was completely empty for over 150 years as it has purely been built to maintain symmetry. It then became a janitors closet for a while 🤣

Unlike most prominent cathedrals, the inside was surprisingly simple. Visitors (including us) often feel taken aback, expecting grandeur but due to the inside being designed later, by a different architect with a different style it is simple and minimal compared to its outside and most other cathedrals.

We actually liked it more, it was nice to see one that was quite different. The organ was under repair as you can see.Read more