Vanhan Kirkon Puisto

The Old Church Park is one of Helsinki's most beautiful parks. Its elm trees provide a haven for people to rest under during their hectic days. In the eighteenth century the park housed a cemetery, the final resting place of thousands of people up to 1918. In 1710 half the population of Helsinki was buried in the park, victims to the plague. Monuments in the park commemorate some of the soldiers buried here, and there is the famous statue of Finnish activist and children's writer Elias Lonnrot, the man who compiled the national epic Kalevala. Emil Wikstrom sculpted the statue in 1902.

The most important feature of the park is the Neo-Classical Old Church, the oldest existing church in Helsinki, designed by C.L. Engel and completed in 1826. In addition to the Old Church, in 1828 Engel designed a stone gate for the park's main entrance. The gate is inscribed with some memorial words for the plague victims buried in the area.

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• Attraction Type: National Parks

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