Senate Square

Senate Square is bordered in the west by Unioninkatu, in the east by Snellmaninkatu and in the south by Aleksanterinkatu. It is a square rich in history and is sometimes used for public events such as concerts, provincial markets and parades.

In 1809 Finland was annexed to Imperial Russia as an Autonomous Grand Duchy, and three years later Helsinki became its capital. A town plan was drawn by Johan Albrecht Ehrenström and the buildings were designed by a German architect, Carl Ludwig Engel, in the Empire style then favoured in St Petersburg.

Presiding over the Square is the Lutheran Cathedral (1852, formerly the Nicholas Church). On the eastern side of the Square is the Council of State building, the former Imperial Senate, of 1822.

In the centre of the Square stands a statue of Tsar Alexander II (1894).

Bordering the south side of the Square, on Aleksanterinkatu, are the former homes of 18th-19th century merchants: the Sederholm House and the Bock House, the Old Town Hall. These nowadays house city offices, shops and restaurants. On the other side of the block are the Market Square and the sea.

On Unioninkatu, on the western side of the Square, opposite the Council of State, is the main building of Helsinki University, once the Imperial Alexander University. Originally built in 1832, it was destroyed in an air raid in 1944 but rebuilt and reopened in 1948.

Set in the paving stones of the Square is a memorial marking the site of the Ulrika Eleonora Church 1727-1827.