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 larger area with a population of 10,000 in 2004. The heart of Kamppi is a part of the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

. However, in stark contrast to the other districts of central Helsinki, development in Kamppi was sporadic and the very centre of Kamppi remained entirely undeveloped until 2002. The name "Kamppi" is derived from the Swedish word for battle, ''

kamp Kamp or KAMP may refer to: __NOTOC__ Geography * Kamp (river), Austria * Kamp (Bad Doberan), a park in the German town of Bad Doberan * Kamp, a district of the German municipality Kamp-Bornhofen * Kamp, a district of the German municipality Kamp-Lin ...

''. Under Russian rule in the 19th century, Kamppi was mainly used as a military area by Russian forces, with

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

and training fields, which the name refers to. This so-called "Kamppi field" in the centre of Kamppi was also the location of a market run by Jewish merchants from the late 19th century until 1929 when it was shut down. A new pedestrian plaza on the same site, completed in 2005 as part of a recent redevelopment project, has been officially named

Narinkka Narinkka or Narinkkatori (Swedish: ''Narinken'') is a square in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland. It is surrounded by the Kamppi Center to the west, the former financial building of the Turku barracks to the east and the Scandic Hotels hotel Simonkent ...

Square ( fi, Narinkkatori, sv, Narinken) which comes from the name that the old Jewish market had. The name for the Jewish market has its background in the Russian language, as many of the Jewish merchants came from Russia and spoke Russian. In

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the First language, native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European langua ...

, "на рынке" (na rinke) means "on the market". The Finnish speaking people began to call the place "narinkka" and the name stuck to the place with few people today knowing the original meaning of the word. The reputable

Ressu Upper Secondary School Ressu Upper Secondary School ( fi, Ressun lukio), also known internationally as Ressun lukio IB World School, is a secondary school (or '' gymnasium'') located in central Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 1891, Ressu is one of the oldest Finnish speaki ...

as well as the

Helsinki Old Church sv, Gamla kyrkan , native_name_lang = , image = Helsinki Old Church from Hotel Torni 2011-06-28 1.jpg , coordinates = , location = Helsinki , country = Finland , denominatio ...

and its adjacent park are located in the district of Kamppi. There are also two hotels in Kamppi area: Hotel Marski and

Hotel Torni Hotel Torni () is a historical hotel located in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland, and a part of the Sokos Hotels hotel chain. When opened in 1931, it became the tallest building in Finland, a position it maintained until the completion of the new Nes ...

. The central bus station of Helsinki is located in a modern terminal built entirely underground in Kamppi, and the

Helsinki railway station Helsinki Central Station ( fi, Helsingin päärautatieasema, sv, Helsingfors centralstation) ( HEC) is the main station for commuter rail and long-distance trains departing from Helsinki, Finland. The station is used by approximately 400,000 peo ...

is located only a few hundred metres away. A popular destination in Kamppi is

Tennispalatsi Tennispalatsi ( sv, Tennispalatset; lit. ''Tennis Palace''), is an enclosed cultural and recreational center in Kamppi, Helsinki, Finland. It houses a Finnkino multiplex movie theatre, the Helsinki City Art Museum, the Museum of Cultures, and smal ...

, the largest cinema multiplex in Helsinki. Since August 2002, the centre of Kamppi was occupied by the largest single construction site in the history of Finland. The first phase of the project, the underground bus terminal, was opened to the public in June 2005. Completed in March 2006, the Kamppi Center also houses high-quality apartments and a large shopping mall. In 2012 the

Kamppi Chapel sv, Kampens kapell , image = Kamppi Chapel 2020.jpg , caption = View from the Narinkka Square , coordinates = , location = Kamppi, Helsinki , country = Finland , denomination ...

was opened on the other end of Narinkka Square.

References

{{Coord, 60, 10, 03, N, 24, 55, 54, E, region:FI-ES_type:city(10397), display=title Kampinmalmi district

See also

References