Greetings from Finland, the land of the White Lilies, the land of the Finns and the Lapps, the daughter of the Baltic Sea.

Today I took one of the ferries leaving every hour from Market Square and went to Suomenlinnan Island. I wished it was winter so that I could walk across the freezing North Sea. But it turns out that even when you take the ferry in winter, you can only get to the island with a wobble because of the thousands of pieces of ice. It is impossible to get enough of the views of Helsinki from the sea before passing by dozens of islands on the way.

Suomenlinnan Island (castle), a Unesco World Heritage Site, consists of 6 separate islands connected to each other by bridges. It is one of the most important and must-see places among hundreds of Finnish islands. Just like Finland's history, this island was once under the rule of the Kingdom of Sweden and then the Russian Tsardom. With the liberation of Finland, it passed to the Finnish army. Every inch of the island, including the historical ruins and the harmony of nature, the walking paths and bridges, are mossy and greenish in my favorite way. I pass through the cannons on the top of the island and the ruins of historical tombs, moss-covered shelter houses that look like hobbit houses and long tunnels and arrive at the King's Gate. Even though I want to stay here forever, I feel like I have to go back, but I want to fill each frame over and over again with the joy of a child. I am not sure whether I should breathe in the smell of history, the fragrant North Sea or the moss-covered cliffs, but I am on my way back. I will have to walk about 1.6 km from here to the harbor. Jazz, blues and even classical music from somewhere else, mixed with the icy wind, and the smell of vanilla cookies and cinnamon herbal teas coming from a small cafe, lift my spirits. I take a small break at Cafe Vanilla and return to the harbor.

The currency of Finland, the smallest of the Nordic countries, is Euro. And although it is an incredibly expensive country like all Nordic countries, its welfare level is quite high. In the fall and winter months, it starts to get dark at 14.30 and everywhere closes at 16.00 except the food and beverage places.

Helsinki Cathedral in Senate Square, the symbol of the city, looks almost identical to the famous Sacre Cure Cathedral in Paris, but it is built in a Nordic architecture. When you go up the stairs, you are in the middle of a magnificent view of the Senate Building, Sederholm House, the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki National Library, where you can touch thousands of original books, including Pascal's original mathematical works, Edgar Allen Poe's manuscript poetry books and thousands of original books that I didn't want to leave for hours.

The interior of Helsinki Cathedral, like all the cathedrals and churches in Helsinki and Copenhagen, is Latheran. There are no reliefs, paintings or reliefs, no ornaments. It is plain and simple. A single painting on the altar depicting the crucifixion of Jesus.

In Helsinki, a city of 610,000 inhabitants with almost no tourist attractions, even the ferry is full of Chinese tourists. Even on the 15 minute ride it was incredibly noisy.

Unlike in Denmark, you cannot see a single bicycle on the streets in Helsinki. There are almost no bicycles here.

With 306 islands, Finland is covered with lakes and cold, ice-covered in winter, all kinds of fish are incredibly delicious, here you can get your fill of smoked salmon and salmon soup. Although I have tried reindeer aromatized with berry sauces and served with berry varieties, which you can find in every restaurant here, I don't remember ever finding it so delicious, although I have tried it in Kitzbuhel and Mont Blanc before.

Every chapel, church or cathedral I see around the world, especially in Europe, I always try to go inside, examine it, breathe its air, experience its serenity and energy, listen to the services or classical music concerts and church music, if there are any, and I enjoy it very much. But in Helsinki, I came across two incredibly interesting and magnificent churches that I have never come across in my life, and no matter how long this article goes on, it is impossible to close Helsinki without telling about these two.

Temppeliaukio Church (Rock Church), carved into a huge granite rock, is one of the most interesting museums in the world, with a magnificent architectural design that has inspired hundreds of architectural magazines. With its impressive atmosphere and amazing acoustics, the church is one of the most popular places for tourists in Helsinki. Carved into the rocks with a radical plan by brothers Timo and Tuomo in 1996, the church is one of Helsinki's most interesting wedding churches and cultural sights. The oval-shaped rock church is completely level with the road, but the top of the church, surrounded by walls of bare rock, is completely illuminated by natural daylight coming from a 24-meter diameter hole dome carved in the middle of the walls extending to the top. The harmony of the light hitting the hall and the altar and the traces of the ice age on the rock walls have rightly made the church the center of attention of young impressionist painters.

Another church is just as interesting as the Rock Church. Kamppi Chapel of Silence is located in one of the most crowded parts of the city and offers people a chance to calm down, relax and find peace. The chapel has an oval, curved conical architecture and is completely covered with soft wood inside and out. No matter what religion or belief you have, the chapel of silence is a wonderful place where you can rest, breathe, pray, calm down, take a break from life for a moment... It is not thousands of years old, it is new. Tiny, tiny, but aesthetic. And it's frequented by thousands of tourists. He did it. It's good to be a human being in this country...

This is it in a nutshell...

Mukaddes Pekin Başdil

Researcher-Author

Source: Denizli Haber