Helsinki, Finland
The National Geographic Endeavour left her birth in Estonia at approximately 3:00am and headed a short distance of 48 nautical miles to the city of Helsinki, capital of Finland. We would have the entire day to explore this lovely and very interesting city. After viewing a short historical documentary of the outer fortress of Suomenlinna also called the Gibraltar of the North we would be free to visit the old city market located on the main dock just in front of down town Helsinki. Wandering amongst some of the handicrafts of finish design we saw our first examples of the fine craftsmanship Finland is so famous for. Moving along the dock, and looking into several of the covered stands we found the fruits and vegetables of the late summer season in Scandinavia. New potatoes, fresh carrots, parsnips, the aroma of fresh dill, cucumbers and the first crop of wild mushrooms a great delicacy of Finland were all on display. At 10:00am a small ferry was available for those interested in seeing the fortress of Suomenlinna. Twenty minutes later we arrived and spent the remainder of the morning exploring the walls and grounds of this Unesco World Heritage sight. This fortress was built by the Swedish military architect Augustin Ehrensvard, and is recognized as one of the biggest and strongest military fortresses in the world. Just before lunch the ferry returned us to the main harbor of Helsinki in time for lunch on board the National Geographic Endeavour.
After lunch we were offered several options. Three of our staff led hikes around Helsinki and two local Finish Guides were available for local and historical information on some of the monuments of Helsinki. The weather was not cooperating, and we were exploring this fascinating city in quite heavy rain. One squall would pass over our groups followed by another; though, despite these conditions many a hearty soul ventured out for some exploration of Helsinki.
The city was originally settled in the 1550’s by King Gustav I of Sweden who had a great interest in building a community that would transfer all trade in Finland to one central location. Helsinki, Finland became this central trade location, though remained a remote outpost for several hundred years with continued transferring of ownership by several countries, until finally establishing its independence in 1917, and through the various influences of those conquering forces, its architecture was deeply affected.
Finland was one of the first countries to overwhelmingly support the “new style” of architecture around 1900, and today Helsinki, still has rich and powerful concentrations of Art Nouveau or Jugendstil and also called Arts and Crafts style of architecture. This style aspired to revitalize architecture by a new artistic vision of humanism and reform which included nature and organic growth adapted into form. During the twenty years from the end of the 1800’s into the early 1900’s the Helsinki peninsula rapidly developed into a city, with both a phenomenal rate of building and the emergence of lasting town-planning ideas. The city grew, from a population of 61,000 to 170,000 by the year 1914. Quoting Finish architect K.S. Kallio, “All fields of art in this building complement each other...the likes of which we have never seen before. Finland exploited its timber and stone. Planning from the “inside out”, the concept of a building as a whole work of art, together with domesticity was the ideals that formed a basis for modern planning and architecture.” Several groups wandered from some of the well known monuments of Art Nouveau, like the Central Train station, to the small side streets looking for shelter from rain, while searching out and finding those small details in the architecture that represented such a startling and refreshing form of story telling that had literally been constructed into the buildings.
The National Geographic Endeavour left her birth in Estonia at approximately 3:00am and headed a short distance of 48 nautical miles to the city of Helsinki, capital of Finland. We would have the entire day to explore this lovely and very interesting city. After viewing a short historical documentary of the outer fortress of Suomenlinna also called the Gibraltar of the North we would be free to visit the old city market located on the main dock just in front of down town Helsinki. Wandering amongst some of the handicrafts of finish design we saw our first examples of the fine craftsmanship Finland is so famous for. Moving along the dock, and looking into several of the covered stands we found the fruits and vegetables of the late summer season in Scandinavia. New potatoes, fresh carrots, parsnips, the aroma of fresh dill, cucumbers and the first crop of wild mushrooms a great delicacy of Finland were all on display. At 10:00am a small ferry was available for those interested in seeing the fortress of Suomenlinna. Twenty minutes later we arrived and spent the remainder of the morning exploring the walls and grounds of this Unesco World Heritage sight. This fortress was built by the Swedish military architect Augustin Ehrensvard, and is recognized as one of the biggest and strongest military fortresses in the world. Just before lunch the ferry returned us to the main harbor of Helsinki in time for lunch on board the National Geographic Endeavour.
After lunch we were offered several options. Three of our staff led hikes around Helsinki and two local Finish Guides were available for local and historical information on some of the monuments of Helsinki. The weather was not cooperating, and we were exploring this fascinating city in quite heavy rain. One squall would pass over our groups followed by another; though, despite these conditions many a hearty soul ventured out for some exploration of Helsinki.
The city was originally settled in the 1550’s by King Gustav I of Sweden who had a great interest in building a community that would transfer all trade in Finland to one central location. Helsinki, Finland became this central trade location, though remained a remote outpost for several hundred years with continued transferring of ownership by several countries, until finally establishing its independence in 1917, and through the various influences of those conquering forces, its architecture was deeply affected.
Finland was one of the first countries to overwhelmingly support the “new style” of architecture around 1900, and today Helsinki, still has rich and powerful concentrations of Art Nouveau or Jugendstil and also called Arts and Crafts style of architecture. This style aspired to revitalize architecture by a new artistic vision of humanism and reform which included nature and organic growth adapted into form. During the twenty years from the end of the 1800’s into the early 1900’s the Helsinki peninsula rapidly developed into a city, with both a phenomenal rate of building and the emergence of lasting town-planning ideas. The city grew, from a population of 61,000 to 170,000 by the year 1914. Quoting Finish architect K.S. Kallio, “All fields of art in this building complement each other...the likes of which we have never seen before. Finland exploited its timber and stone. Planning from the “inside out”, the concept of a building as a whole work of art, together with domesticity was the ideals that formed a basis for modern planning and architecture.” Several groups wandered from some of the well known monuments of Art Nouveau, like the Central Train station, to the small side streets looking for shelter from rain, while searching out and finding those small details in the architecture that represented such a startling and refreshing form of story telling that had literally been constructed into the buildings.
