Hameenkatu

Hameenkatu is the main street in Tampere. All the largest department stores, banks, insurance companies and other major businesses can be found along it. Hameenkatu is the only cobble-stoned street in Tampere, and it is going to be kept that way. The street was first shown on a map in 1779, but it had a different name then. In the beginning of the nineteenth century Tampere was a city of craftsmen, and rows of low wooden houses and workshops lined the main street. The growth of industry in Tampere led to better standards of living, and the first stone buildings were erected at the end of the century. It was during this time that the western side of Hameenkatu street got its art nouveau look. Eleven of the sixteen plots between the central square and Hameenpuisto park were re-built during 1890s, and most of these buildings still stand today. On the other side of the Hameensilta bridge the oldest buildings represent the Neo-Renaissance style. The new Hameensilta with its wonderful hunter statues (by sculptor Waino Aaltonen) was built in 1929. The bridge is one of the best-known symbols of Tampere these days. Hameenkatu is the centre-point of life in Tampere.

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• Attraction Type: Monuments and Landmarks

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