It is better to start exploring the Finnish capital from its main attraction, Senate Square, and your sightseeing tour with the main shrine of Helsinki, St Nicholas' Church. Both the square and the cathedral were built after Finland had become a part of the Russian Empire. Thus, it is not surprising that a monument to Emperor Alexander II of Russia stands right in front of the church, which, by the way, was Orthodox for a long time. Besides, the construction of the Finnish church went simultaneously with the creation of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg in the middle of the 19th century. Hence the similarity in the exteriors of the temples: they both look like the five-domed cathedrals built in Ancient Russia.

The project of the majestic Helsinki Cathedral was created by the famous Finnish architect Carl Ludvig Engel. The church was consecrated in honor of the patron saint of the reigning Russian Emperor Nicholas I, St. Nicholas. The two side wings, dedicated to the bell tower and the chapel, were built later by Engel's successor Ernst Lohrmann.

The grand opening and the first religious service took place in 1852, and since then such a magnificent monument of temple architecture rises above the Finnish capital from the height of a granite pedestal.

The pastel-blue five-domed cathedral is made in the Byzantine style and decorated with zinc sculptures of the twelve holy apostles. The figures of the apostles on the roof were not included in the original plan of the cathedral. They appeared later by decree of the next Russian Emperor Nicholas II. Today, they are considered the largest collection of zinc sculptures in the world.

The most notable part of the church interior decoration is the altarpiece "The Entombment" by the talented Russian-German painter Carl Timoleon von Neff. The cathedral altar itself, painted at the end of the 19th century and decorated with statues of angels on both sides, also deserves special attention. By the way, it was also created by Carl Ludvig Engel.