Opus Finlandia/Kaunis Suomi Kuvina/Beautiful Finland [antikvár]

GREATER HELSINKIIf the goddess of love, Aphrodite, emerged from the foaming sea at Paphos, then the daughter ofthe Baltic, Helsinki, was born of the swift flowing river Vantaa. When Gustavus Vasa gave theorder to found the city on 12th June 1550, he wished for a town worthy of Revel (nowadaysTallinn) in another part of the Swedish empire, and so chose a place in the river delta surroundedby forests and fields. Not the best possible site as the delta silted up and in 1640 the town had tobe moved closer to the sea in what is now Kruununhaka.Though battered by winds, waters and wars, the town grew and gradually acquired theambience of a city. By 1812 it was ready to receive the ukase of Alexander I making Helsinki thecapital of his new grand duchy.Helsinki did not become the capital for demographic reasons. The main centre remainedTurku and the surrounding area, but St. Petersburg feared the pull of Sweden. A strong counter-balance was required that would also bring the western districts under the mantle of the grandduchy and mother Russia. And so Helsinki became the new capital.The city attracted growth. Within its rocky confines, Greater Helsinki became the administrativeand economic centre of the country. Industry burgeoned, trade thrived, communications excelled,cultural life flourished and the population grew by leaps and bounds. Much of this growth hastaken place in the neighbouring municipalities of Vantaa, Espoo and tiny Kauniainen.7