Keisarinnankivi (

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

for "the stone of the empress") is a monument located at the

Market Square The market square (or sometimes, the market place) is a Town square, square meant for trading, in which a market is held. It is an important feature of many towns and cities around the world.Kaartinkaupunki Kaartinkaupunki ( sv, Gardesstaden) is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Helsinki, Finland. Kaartinkaupunki consists of the area between the Esplanadi park and the Tähtitornin vuori park. Its area was first confirmed in 1812, but the ...

in central

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. The monument, designed by

Carl Ludvig Engel Carl Ludvig Engel, or Johann Carl Ludwig Engel (3 July 1778 – 14 May 1840), was a German architect whose most noted work can be found in Helsinki, which he helped rebuild. His works include most of the buildings around the capital's monumental ...

, is the oldest public monument in Helsinki. It was revealed with celebrations on the name day of Nikolai on 18 December 1835 to commemorate the first visit to Helsinki by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of

Emperor of Russia The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the Absolute monarchy, monarch of the Russian Empire. The title originated in conn ...

Nicholas I. The monument was erected at the spot where the imperial couple stepped ashore from the steamship ''Ischora'' on arrival in Helsinki on 10 June (

Old Style Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 158 ...

: 29 May) 1833. The monument was funded by a national collection of funds and by a grant given by the Imperial Senate of Finland. The monument is an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

made of red

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, topped with a gilded

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

sphere. On top of the sphere is the symbol of Imperial Russia, a

double-headed eagle In heraldry and vexillology, the double-headed eagle (or double-eagle) is a charge (heraldry), charge associated with the concept of Empire. Most modern uses of the symbol are directly or indirectly associated with its use by the late Byzantin ...

. The eagle sports the lion coat of arms of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecessor ...

on its chest. The gilded eagle was designed by the avian painter

Magnus von Wright Magnus von Wright (13 June 1805 – 5 July 1868) was a Swedish-Finnish painter and educator. In addition to bird illustrations, he was also known for his landscapes. Biography Magnus von Wright was born at the village of Haminalahti in Ku ...

. The southern side of the monument bears a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

inscription and the northern side bears a

one, both explaining the purpose of the monument. At the time of the erection of the monument, it was unusual to use Finnish in such an official connection, as the official languages of Finland at the time were

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

. Finnish was only made an official language in Finland in 1883. The inscriptions read: *IMPERATRICI ALEXANDRAE METROPOLIN FINLANDIAE primum adventanti die XXIX Majj X Junii MDCCCXXXIII *KEISARINNA ALEXANDRALLE SUOMEN PÄÄˍKAUPUNGISSA ensikerran käyneelle XXIX. p: Touko- X. p: kesä-kuussa MDCCCXXXIII An

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translation is: "To the Empress Alexandra, who visited the capital of Finland for the first time on 29 May, 10 June 1833". After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

on 17 April 1917 Russian seamen tore down the bronze sphere and double-headed eagle on top of the monument and removed the

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s on the base of the monument. The double-headed eagle was broken when torn down, but both the eagle and the sphere acting as its base still remained. They were reinstated after repairs in 1971 after first consulting the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

to verify it did not oppose this. The bronze sphere was gilded again in 2000 to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the city of Helsinki and its role as the European Capital of Culture at the time.

References

External links

*
Keisarinnankivi
at the Helsinki Museum of Art {{Helsinki Cityscape Statues and sculptures in Helsinki Kaartinkaupunki Carl Ludvig Engel buildings Obelisks