Finnish city that is very similar to St. Petersburg

Helsinki, Finland, Finnish archipelago, which begins near the city of Helsinki and ending in the oldest Finnish city of Turku is one of the most important sights in Finland. Particularly beautiful south-west coast, along which more than 20,000 small islands. There you can see the oldest medieval churches and buildings built in the XII century. Unique seascapes nobody can remain indifferent. This place is assigned the status of Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO. Bay of Helsinki capital of Finland Helsinki is located on the northern coast of the Gulf. Helsinki - the largest city in the country with a population of 600,000 people. The population of Greater Helsinki, which includes 12 smaller cities, including the Espoo and Vantaa, is more than 1.3 million people. Helsinki is located in southern Finland, in the province of Uusimaa. Embankments of the city is washed by the Baltic Sea. Helsinki is located about 300 km from the Swedish capital of Stockholm and just 80 km from the Estonian capital city Tallinn. Also, about 300 km from Helsinki and is the former Russian capital city of St. Petersburg. Senate Square - the main political, financial, cultural and research center in Finland. This city is also an important regional center for the Baltic region and one of the most important in Northern Europe. In this beautiful seaside town are 8 universities and six technology centers. Approximately 70% of foreign companies operating in Finland, have opened their representative offices in Helsinki. In 2009 at the World Congress of the designer of Helsinki was chosen as World Design Capital 2012. Helsinki guests can not fail to note a strong resemblance to the Finnish capital of the architectural masterpieces of St. Petersburg. The beauty of both cities are located relatively close to each other may be due to the political peculiarities of relations between Russia and Finland. In the late XIX - early XX centuries, Finland belonged to the Russian Empire in the status of the Grand Duchy. As a reminder of those times in Helsinki one can still see houses where once lived the influential Russian nobles. Monument to Alexander II from 1323 to 1809 Finland was ruled by neighboring Sweden, which also greatly influenced the architectural style of the city. Until now, the country's two official languages ??- Swedish and Finnish. History of Helsinki started in 1550 when the city was founded on the orders of the Swedish king Gustav Vasa. Initially the settlement was located near the mouth of the river Yockey. However, the place was unsuccessful because of poor access to the sea. As a result, the city was moved to this area of ??South District. In the XVIII century, almost every building in Helsinki were made of wood. Cathedral of St. Nicholas in the most popular place in Helsinki is the Senate Square. From here begins and ends here most of the excursion routes. Architecture of the area struck by its beauty, most of the buildings here are made in the neoclassical style. Here are the most famous historical buildings of the city: the Cathedral of St. Nicholas Lutheran Cathedral, Senate building, the university and library. All of them were built in the XVIII century. In the center of the square stands a monument to the Russian tsar Alexander II.