Mikonkatu (

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 ...

: ''Mikaelsgatan'') is a street 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 ...

, leading north from the

Esplanadi Esplanadi ( sv, Esplanaden), colloquially known as Espa, is an esplanade and urban park in downtown Helsinki, Finland, situated between the Erottaja square and the Market Square. It is bordered on its northern and southern sides by the Pohjoisesp ...

Park to the

Kaisaniemi Park Kaisaniemi park ( fi, Kaisaniemen puisto, sv, Kajsaniemiparken) is a popular park, in the center of Helsinki, in the region of Kluuvi. The Kaisaniemi Park was named after Catharina "Cajsa" Wahllund.Suomen kansallisbiografia (National Biography o ...

, mostly converted into a

pedestrian street Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

in 1992. Mikonkatu was named in 1820 after

Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich of Russia (russian: Михаи́л Па́влович; ''Mikhail Pavlovich'') (8 February 1798 S 28 January– 9 September 1849 S 28 August was a Russian grand duke, the tenth child and fourth son of Paul I of ...

(1798 - 1849), brother 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 ...

Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon 495–454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Pope Alexander I (died 115), early bishop of Rome * Pope Alexander I of Alexandria (died 320s), patriarch of ...

. The street was built into its current length and form in 1830. The

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 ...

name of street was Mikaelinkatu from 1909 to 1928. There are tram tracks on Mikonkatu, going along the eastern edge of the

Helsinki Railway Square Helsinki Railway Square ( fi, Rautatientori, sv, Järnvägstorget) is an open square immediately to the east of the Helsinki Central railway station in central Helsinki in Finland. The square serves as Helsinki's secondary bus station along with ...

to Kaivokatu. Trams travelled on this Vilhonkatu - Mikonkatu route in both directions until 1950, when a new route along Kaisaniemenkatu was opened from Kaivokatu towards Kaisaniemi. The trams travelled from Kaisaniemi to Kaivokatu along Vilhonkatu and Mikonkatu until 1994, when the tram track along Kaisaniemenkatu was widened to two lanes. The Vilhonkatu - Mikonkatu route is still used for tram traffic on special occasions. A two-lane, partly self-intersecting tram track was built on Mikonkatu between

Aleksanterinkatu Aleksanterinkatu ( sv, Alexandersgatan; "Alexander Street") is a street in Kluuvi, the commercial centre of Helsinki, Finland. In the city plan by Carl Ludvig Engel, it was the ''Decumanus Maximus'', the main east–west street in the city, cross ...

and Kaivokatu in early 2009. Once the Helsinki central service tunnel is ready, it will replace the service traffic on Mikonkatu. There are plans to cover the part of Mikonkatu between Aleksanterinkatu and Pohjoisesplanadi.

Intersections from south to north

*Ateneuminkuja (west) / Yliopistonkatu (east) * Kaivokatu (west) / Kaisaniemenkatu (east) *The

is located west of Mikonkatu between Kaivokatu and Vilhonkatu. *Vilhonkatu

Buildings from south to north

The Merkurius building (Mikonkatu 1 - Pohjoisesplanadi 33), also known as the Böckermann house, is a six-story business and office building in the Antilooppi block. The building was commissioned from 1888 to 1890 by the merchant A.F. Böckermann and the master builder H.W. Nordberg and designed by the architect Selim A. Lindqvist with help from the architect Elia Heikel. The Wrede house (Mikonkatu 2 - Pohjoisesplanadi 35) in the Gaselli block, designed by the architect

Karl August Wrede Karl August Wrede (18 September 1859 – 25 May 1943) was a Finnish-Swedish architect. His buildings are mostly in the Neo-Renaissance and Neo-Gothic styles. Biography He was born into a noble family, the Wrede af Elimä, at their manor home. Hi ...

and commissioned by the master builder J.H. Helenius in 1888, is a five-story business and residential building. The

Wrede passage The Wrede passage, also known as the "Old merchant alley" (Finnish language, Finnish: ''Vanha kauppakuja'') or the "Grandma tunnel" (Finnish: ''Mummotunneli'') is an entity formed by two stone buildings in Kluuvi, Helsinki, Finland. The name refer ...

, the first arcade in Helsinki, runs through it. The

Pohjola Insurance building The Pohjola Insurance building is the former headquarters of the Pohjola Insurance Company at Aleksanterinkatu 44 and Mikonkatu 3 in central Helsinki. Primarily designed by Gesellius, Lindgren & Saarinen and constructed in 1899–1901, it is ...

(Mikonkatu 3 - Aleksanterinkatu 44) in the Antilooppi block was completed in 1901 designed by the architect bureau

Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen Gesellius, Lindgren, Saarinen was a Finnish architecture firm, founded in Helsinki in 1896 by architects Herman Gesellius, Armas Lindgren and Eliel Saarinen. They achieved international recognition with their design for the Finnish pavilion at ...

. The facade of the building is an example of national romanticist stone architecture. The cast stone ornaments designed by sculptor

Hilda Flodin Hilda Flodin (16 March 1877 – 9 March 1958) was a Finnish artist. She worked in a variety of media, but in the first part of her career primarily sculpture and etchings, later primarily painting, especially portraits. Life and career Flodin w ...

represent the flora and fauna of Finnish national poetry. The Central house (Mikonkatu 4 - Aleksanterinkatu 46) in the Gaselli block was built as a continuation of the Wrede house in autumn 1890. The commissioner of this business building was Julius Tallberg and the plans had been made by architect K.A. Wrede in the previous year. After the Central house had been completed the Wrede passage had a continuous stretch from Pohjoisesplanadi to Aleksanterinkatu. The

Lundqvist Building The Lundqvist Building is a former department store in the Kluuvi district of central Helsinki, Finland. It is located at the intersection of Aleksanterinkatu and Mikonkatu streets. Until the end of 2020, it housed the Aleksi 13 department sto ...

(Mikonkatu 5 - Aleksanterinkatu 13) in the Hamsteri block was completed in 1900, designed by architect Selim A. Lindqvist. The Aleksi 13 department store which was present in the building for a long time got its name from the address of the building. The Atlas house (Mikonkatu 6 - Aleksanterinkatu 15) in the Jänis block was designed by architect

Gustaf Nyström Gustaf Nyström (21 January 1856 – 30 December 1917) was a Finnish architect. Nyström has been described as one of the most important architects in Finland at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He was active bot ...

in 1889 and was completed in 1890. The inner courtyard buildings were designed by architect C. Kiseleff in 1876 and by the architectural bureau Kiseleff & Heikel in 1880. The Salama house is located at Mikonkatu 6 - Aleksanterinkatu 15. The Agros house (Mikonkatu 7 - Yliopistonkatu 10, formerly Hallituskatu 14) in the Hamsteri block was designed by architect Selim A. Lindqvist in 1909. The Agros house was originally built around a small warehouse designed by architect Waldemar Aspel in 1903, which remained part of the building until its last renovation. The building is also known by the name of the Renlund hardware store which was located in the building for a long time. The Aikatalo building (Mikonkatu 8 - Ateneuminkuja corner) was designed by architect Eliel Muoniovaara in 1961 and there is a pedestrian connection to

Keskuskatu , literally 'Central Street' (Finland Swedish: ), is a two block-long pedestrian street in the centrally-located Kluuvi neighborhood of Helsinki, Finland. Along the street are located (from south to north): the Stockmann department store, the ...

next to it. The architecture competition for the former office of the Atlas bank (Mikonkatu 9 - Yliopistonkatu 7) was won by architects

Jussi Jussi () is a male given name. In Finnish originally it is short for Juhani or Juho, Finnish for Johannes/John, but is also recognized as a name in its own right for official purposes. It can also be short for Justus, or a Finnish form of Justin. ...

and

Toivo Paatela Toivo is a masculine given name most commonly found in Estonia and Finland and may refer to: *Andimba Toivo ya Toivo (1924–2017), Namibian politician and anti-Apartheid activist *Sigrid Elmblad (1860–1926), Swedish journalist, poet, translator ...

. The building was originally designed with five floors, but it was built with eight floors. The facade sculptures and the reliefs on the main door were designed by

Gunnar Finne Johan Gunnar Finne (4 April 1886 – 17 September 1952) was a Finnish sculptor. The architect Elna Kiljander became a single mother after a brief marriage with Finne from 1918 to 1926. Finne's best-known work is the memorial for the author Zach ...

. The interior of the bank was designed by Arttu Brummer and the interior decorative paintings were made by Antti Salmenlinna. The bank went bankrupt in the early 1930s, after which the movie theatre Bio Rea took over the premises in 1936. Further buildings: *

Ateneum Ateneum is an art museum in Helsinki, Finland and one of the three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery. It is located in the centre of Helsinki on the south side of Rautatientori square close to Helsinki Central railway station. It has t ...

(Mikonkatu 10 - Kaivokatu 2) * Lackman house (Mikonkatu 11) * Mikonkatu 13 - Kaisaniemenkatu 1 * Mikonlinna, Nokia house (Mikonkatu 15 - Kaisaniemenkatu 2a) * Fennia house (Mikonkatu 15) * Former Aatra Oy, Nikolajeff house (Mikonkatu 19 - Vilhonkatu 6)Valtonen, Marja
Entinen Oy Aatra, Nikolajeffin talo; Mikonkatu 19. Vilhonkatu 6.; Helsinki
hkm.finna.fi. Accessed on 10 November 2020. * Housing company Wilhola * SOK head office, nowadays Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel

References

External links

* {{commonscat-inline Streets in Helsinki Kaartinkaupunki Kluuvi