Narinkka or NarinkkatoriKotus.fi
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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 ...

: ''Narinken'') is a square in

Kamppi Kamppi () is a neighbourhood in the centre of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name originally referred to a small area known as the "Kamppi field" (see below), but according to the current official designation, "Kamppi" encompasses a much l ...

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 ...

. It is surrounded by the

Kamppi Center Kamppi Centre ( fi, Kampin keskus, sv, Kampens centrum) is a complex in the Kamppi district in the centre of Helsinki, Finland, designed by various architects, the main designer, however, being Juhani Pallasmaa. It is said to be Helsinki's new ...

to the west, the former financial building of the Turku barracks to the east and the

Scandic Hotels Scandic Hotels is a hotel chain headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with its main operations in the Nordic countries. Alongside hotels in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, the company also has a presence in Germany and Poland. As of 31 Decem ...

hotel Simonkenttä to the south. To the north the square borders the Salomonkatu street, which is nowadays a

pedestrian zone 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 ...

, to the south between the square and the Simonkatu street is the Kamppi Chapel (the Silence Chapel). The square got its current form during the construction of the Kamppi Center and was built in 2005, when it also got its name. The square has held public events such as various exhibitions, sports competitions and outdoor concerts, including the Eurovillage event related to the

2007 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2007 was the 52nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Helsinki, Finland, following the country's victory at the with the song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" by Lordi. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

in Helsinki. The 2006 sculpture ''Yrittäjäveistos'' (''Leverty'') by

Eva Löfdahl Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in t ...

, which was raised to honour the Finnish entrepreneurs, is located at the square.

History

The site of Narinkka originally held courtyard buildings of the Turku barracks and an exercise field for the Russian military in the barracks. The Turku barracks was destroyed in 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 ...

in 1918, and the

Lasipalatsi Lasipalatsi ( sv, Glaspalatset; meaning literally "glass palace") is a functionalist office building designed in the 1930s, located on Mannerheimintie in the Kamppi district of Helsinki, Finland. Lasipalatsi is one of Helsinki's most notable func ...

building was built in its place. The financial building of the barracks remains, and it has hosted the central

bus station A bus station or a bus interchange is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. While the term bus depot can also be used to refer to a bus station, it generally refers to a bus garage. A bus station is l ...

of Helsinki from 1935 to 2005, when the bus station was moved underground in connection to the Kamppi Center. The platforms for long-distance traffic were on a square between the bus station and Lasipalatsi, at the site of the current Narinkka square were the platforms for incoming traffic and platforms for buses to northern

Espoo Espoo (, ; sv, Esbo) is a city and municipality in the region of Uusimaa in the Republic of Finland. It is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordering the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, Kirkkonummi, Vihti and Nurmijärvi ...

and western

Vantaa Vantaa (; sv, Vanda, ) is a city and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is part of the inner core of the Greater Helsinki, Finnish Capital Region along with Helsinki, Espoo, and Kauniainen. With a population of (), Vantaa i ...

. The former bus station building currently hosts restaurants and the

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

exhibition Laituri.

Former Narinkka

Narinkka got its name from a market square located from 1876 to 1929 along Simonkatu, at the site of the current Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä, where the

Finnish Jews The history of the Jews in Finland goes back to the 1700s. Finnish Jews are Jews who are citizens of Finland. The country is home to some 1,800 Jews, of which 1,400 live in the Greater Helsinki area and 200 in Turku. Most Jews in Finland have Fi ...

and Finnish Russians sold used clothes. The name comes from the

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 ...

words "на рынке" (literally "at the market square"). A marketplace for used clothes of this kind had already been present in Helsinki since the 18th century, originally at the site of the current main military outpost in Helsinki, later at the lot of the

Bank of Finland The Bank of Finland ( fi, Suomen Pankki, sv, Finlands Bank) is the central bank of Finland. It views itself as the fourth oldest surviving central bank in the world, after Sweden's Riksbank, the Bank of England, and the Bank of France. History ...

, where it was moved to Kamppi, when the main building of the Bank of Finland was built.''Helsingin kadunnimet, Helsingin kaupungin julkaisuja nro 24'', p. 123. City of Helsinki, 1970. There later was a terminus stop Simonkenttä fort buses travelling to

Haaga Haaga ( sv, Haga köping) is a district and a former municipality in the Western major district of Helsinki with a population of 25,435.http://www.hel2.fi/tietokeskus/helsinki_alueittain_2005/203Haaga.pdf 2005 statistics about Haaga Haaga is d ...

and

Konala Konala (Finnish), Kånala (Swedish) is a subdistrict of Helsinki, Finland. Konala has about 4500 inhabitants and about 3000 jobs. Konala is situated in north-western Helsinki, north of Ring I road and Pitäjänmäki, west of Malminkartano and Kann ...

. Because of steep height differences in the terrain, a cliff face separated it from the long-distance bus terminal at the site of the current Narinkka square. A hotel building stands in its place today. The name Narinkka is in use also as an annual book series published by the

Helsinki City Museum Helsinki City Museum ( fi, Helsingin kaupunginmuseo, sv, Helsingfors stadsmuseum) is a museum in Helsinki that documents and displays the history of Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Its mission is to record and uphold Helsinki's spiritual, mate ...

References

External links

* {{Coord, 60, 10.18, N, 24, 56.09, E, region:FI-ES_type:city(10397), display=title Squares in Helsinki Kamppi