Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland - panoramio (7)

Meilahden ja Laakson kerrostaloja Mannerheimintien varrella

Mannerheimintie ( sv, Mannerheimvägen), named after the Finnish military leader and statesman Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, is the main street and

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

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 ...

. It was originally named Heikinkatu ( sv, Henriksgatan), after Robert Henrik Rehbinder, but was renamed after the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

. The change of name was also suitable due to Mannerheim having paraded in along that road during the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

(1918), after German forces allied with Mannerheim's Finnish forces had retaken the city. That event is also portrayed in the landmark statue of Mannerheim sitting horseback. The statue is located along the Mannerheimintie just outside the modern arts museum

Kiasma ) , established = (Museum of Contemporary Art) (opening of Kiasma building) , dissolved = , location = Helsinki, Finland , type = Art museum , accreditation = , key_holdings = , co ...

. The street starts at

Erottaja Erottaja ( sv, Skillnaden), meaning "the separator", is a public square near the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Erottaja square has been selected as the official geographic " zero point" of Helsinki. Distances to all other cities in Finland are meas ...

in the city centre, near the

Swedish Theatre The Swedish Theatre ( sv, Svenska Teatern) is a Swedish-language theatre in Helsinki, Finland, and is located at the Erottaja ( sv, Skillnaden) square, at the end of Esplanadi ( sv, Esplanaden). It was the first national stage of Finland. Hi ...

and continues in a northernly direction past the Stockmann department store. It then continues as a main thoroughfare past the districts of Kamppi,

Töölö Töölö (; sv, Tölö, formerly spelled ''Thölö'') is the collective name for the neighbourhoods Etu-Töölö ( sv, Främre Tölö, lit=Front Töölö, links=no) and Taka-Töölö ( sv, Bortre Tölö, lit=Rear Töölö, links=no) in Helsink ...

Meilahti Meilahti (in Swedish Mejlans) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki between Mannerheimintie (the main entrance road to Helsinki) and a bay named Seurasaarenselkä. Most of the houses in Meilahti were built in the 1930s and 1940s. Meilahti is home to ove ...

Laakso Laakso ( sv, Dal) is a neighbourhood in Helsinki, Finland. Its borders are defined by the streets of Mannerheimintie and Nordenskiöldinkatu and the Helsinki Central Park. The neighbourhood is bordered by Töölö in the south, Meilahti in the ...

and Ruskeasuo, until it finally merges into a busy Tampere Highway ( E12) leading outside the city towards

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

and

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

. (Geographically, the highway only ends in central Tampere, having become a small street called Kalevan puistotie, meeting the major street Kekkosentie.) Many famous buildings are located at or near Mannerheimintie. Besides the theatre and department store mentioned above, these include the House of Parliament, the main post office, the

Kiasma ) , established = (Museum of Contemporary Art) (opening of Kiasma building) , dissolved = , location = Helsinki, Finland , type = Art museum , accreditation = , key_holdings = , co ...

modern art museum, the

Finlandia Hall The Finlandia Hall is a congress and event venue in the centre of Helsinki on the Töölönlahti Bay, owned by the City of Helsinki. The building, which was designed by architect Alvar Aalto, was completed in 1971. Every detail in the building i ...

, the National Museum, the Helsinki Opera House,

Hotel Marski Hotel Marski (or Marski by Scandic) is a hotel opened 1962 on Mannerheimintie 10 in Helsinki, Finland. The hotel was built by Alko-owned Arctia Oy and the nine-storey building with strip windows was designed in 1961 by architect Einari Teräsvir ...

, and Tilkka. There are many famous sculptures along the Mannerheimintie. There include the Three Smiths Statue and the Statue of Mannerheim near Kiasma. There are only two streets running across Mannerheimintie:

Nordenskiöldinkatu Nordenskiöldinkatu (Swedish: ''Nordenskiöldsgatan'') is a frequently trafficked street in Helsinki, Finland, going from Taka-Töölö to Alppila and Pasila. It was named after the explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.''Helsingin kadunnimet, Helsi ...

overground, and Tilkanvierto below it as an underpass. There are very many other streets connecting with Mannerheimintie, but all of them either end at Mannerheimintie or continue across it under a different name.

References

Streets in Helsinki Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim {{Europe-road-stub

See also

References