Old Church of Helsinki
About
Old Church of Helsinki (Helsingin vanha kirkko), Lönnrotinkatu 6, and Old Church Park (Vanha kirkkopuisto). The oldest existing church in central Helsinki, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, built between 1824 and 1826. Originally planned as a temporary building before Lutheran Cathedral would be completed in 1852, but remained in use due to the rapid population growth from the early 19th century onwards. The park is sometimes colloquially called Ruttopuisto (Plague Park) as over a thousand victims of the 1710 plague are buried next to the park. The park itself was a cemetery from the 1780s until shortly after the church's construction. Its use as a graveyard was discontinued in 1829, although some victims of the Finnish Civil War and fallen Finnish volunteers of the Estonian War of Independence were buried there in 1918 and 1919, respectively. Some 40 gravestones and memorials, as well as the Johan Sederholm's tomb remain of the cemetery.
