The Luteran temple designed by Carl Ludwig Engel at the beginning of the 19th century is situated on the Senate Square in the neighborhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of Helsinki. The investment was financed by the Russian emperor, Nicholas I, and until 1917 the church was called Nikolainkirkko. The construction of the neoclassical cathedral was finished in 1850, after the death of its first architect. The church is architecturally connected to Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Even today the Russian style of the building is recognizable. The church’s plan is a Greek cross, with characteristic small side cupolas and a large central one, there are also zinc statues of the Twelve Apostles at the apexes and corners of the roofline. In the restored cathedral’s crypt there is a café.
