Ritarihuone Park

The House of Nobility and its little park grace the top end of Aleksanterinkatu in the Kruununhaka district of town. The present unicameral Finnish Parliament was preceded by a four-Estate Diet. The brick building (1862) displaying Gothic influence was built as a meeting place for the Noble Estate, the Finnish noble families having consolidated their ranks according to Sweden's example in 1818. From 1863 onwards the House was also used by the three non-noble Estates - the Clergy, Burghers and Peasants - until they moved into a house of their own, the House of Estates, in 1890. The Diet was replaced by a unicameral Parliament in 1906.

On the walls of the Ritarihuone banqueting hall are the coats-of-arms of 358 noble Finnish families, some 150 of which still have living representatives. The House of Nobility is still occupied by the knights and nobles of Finland. Parts of it have been rented out to the National Board of Antiquities and the banqueting hall is hired out for concerts and exhibitions.