Tuomiokirkko (Domkyrkan) Church I

The central Tuomikirkko (Domkyrkan) church of Helsinki was originally finished in 1852 under Russian tzar Nicholas I. The church is fairly commonly seen on postcards, but this perspective of strong symmetry is a bit more unusual.

The chief architect was the locally well-known Carl Ludvig Engel. On the square in front, is a statue of tzar Alexander II. Alexander II, also being the tzar who sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, implemented many beneficial reforms throughout the Russian empire. In 1881, a bomb thrown by a student revolutionary mortally wounded Alexander II in St Petersburg. As the next tzar, Nicholas II, was overthrown by the communist revolution in 1917, Finland was finally granted its independence.