Helsinki City Museum

The Government Palace (Finnish: Valtioneuvoston linna, Swedish: Statsrådsborgen) is the executive office building of the Council of State of Finland. It overlooks the Senate Square in central Helsinki, Finland. The Government Palace houses the Prime Minister's Office, the Office of the Chancellor of Justice and most departments of the Ministry of Finance. Its former name is the Senate House (Senaatintalo). The building is usually not open to the public but on occasions there are open days.

The Embassy of Sweden in Helsinki (Swedish: Sveriges ambassad i Helsingfors) is Sweden's diplomatic mission in Finland. It is located at Esplanadi. The current ambassador of Sweden to Finland, since 2020, is Nicola Clase.

Olo is a restaurant in Helsinki, Finland, founded by Pekka Terävä, Petri Lukkarinen and Timo Sailama in 2006. It is located on Pohjoisesplanadi 5 in central Helsinki. Olo was awarded one Michelin star in 2011. The Finnish gastronomical society chose Olo as the restaurant of the year in 2009.

Keisarinnankivi (Finnish for "the stone of the empress") is a monument located at the Market Square in Kaartinkaupunki in central Helsinki, Finland. The monument, designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, is the oldest public monument in Helsinki. It was revealed with celebrations on the name day of Nikolai on 18 December 1835 to commemorate the first visit to Helsinki by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Emperor of Russia Nicholas I. The monument was erected at the spot where the imperial couple stepped ashore from the steamship Ischora on arrival in Helsinki on 10 June (Old Style: 29 May) 1833. The monument was funded by a national collection of funds and by a grant given by the Imperial Senate of Finland.The monument is an obelisk made of red granite, topped with a gilded bronze sphere. On top of the sphere is the symbol of Imperial Russia, a double-headed eagle. The eagle sports the lion coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Finland on its chest. The gilded eagle was designed by the avian painter Magnus von Wright.The southern side of the monument bears a Latin inscription and the northern side bears a Finnish one, both explaining the purpose of the monument. At the time of the erection of the monument, it was unusual to use Finnish in such an official connection, as the official languages of Finland at the time were Swedish and Russian. Finnish was only made an official language in Finland in 1883. The inscriptions read: IMPERATRICI ALEXANDRAE METROPOLIN FINLANDIAE primum adventanti die XXIX Majj X Junii MDCCCXXXIII KEISARINNA ALEXANDRALLE SUOMEN PÄÄˍKAUPUNGISSA ensikerran käyneelle XXIX. p: Touko- X. p: kesä-kuussa MDCCCXXXIIIAn English translation is: "To the Empress Alexandra, who visited the capital of Finland for the first time on 29 May, 10 June 1833". After the February Revolution on 17 April 1917 Russian seamen tore down the bronze sphere and double-headed eagle on top of the monument and removed the inscriptions on the base of the monument. The double-headed eagle was broken when torn down, but both the eagle and the sphere acting as its base still remained. They were reinstated after repairs in 1971 after first consulting the Soviet Union to verify it did not oppose this. The bronze sphere was gilded again in 2000 to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the city of Helsinki and its role as the European Capital of Culture at the time.

Helsinki City Hall (Finnish: Helsingin kaupungintalo, Swedish: Helsingfors stadshus) is a central administrative building of Helsinki, Finland. City Hall is located in the Kruununhaka district, overlooking Market Square, at address Pohjoisesplanadi 11–13. City Hall is the seat of the City Council of Helsinki.

The Senate Square (Finnish: Senaatintori, Swedish: Senatstorget) presents Carl Ludvig Engel's architecture as a unique allegory of political, religious, scientific and commercial powers in the centre of Helsinki, Finland. Senate Square and its surroundings make up the oldest part of central Helsinki. Landmarks and famous buildings surrounding the square are the Helsinki Cathedral, the Government Palace, main building of the University of Helsinki and the Sederholm House, the oldest building of central Helsinki dating from 1757.

Helsinki Christmas Market (Finnish: Tuomaan Markkinat; Swedish: Tomasmarknaden; lit. 'St. Thomas Market') is a Christmas market held every year in Helsinki, Finland. It is visited by more than 300,000 people every year. The event has been organized since 1994. Originally it was held in Esplanadi Park for a long time, until they moved to their current venue, the Senate Square.The opening of the Helsinki Christmas Market is always on 1 December and lasts until 22 December. The event brings almost 100 artisans and small producers from all over Finland, as well as more than 20 delicacy sellers, and cafe and restaurant operators to the Senate Square. There is also a vintage-styled carousel, which is free for market visitors.In November 2023, a multinational news channel CNN listed the Helsinki Christmas Market as one of the best Christmas markets in the world.

Alexander II is a monumental statue located at the Senate Square in central Helsinki, Finland. The main figure in the statue depicts the Grand Duke of Finland Alexander II giving a speech at the 1863 Diet of Finland that he had assembled, wearing the uniform of an officer of the Finnish Guards' Rifle Battalion. The statue also includes four allegorical sculptures, representing four different virtues - Law (Latin: Lex), Work (Labor), Peace (Pax) and Light (Lux). Ordered by the Estates and designed by Johannes Takanen and Walter Runeberg, the monument was revealed in April 1894. The revelation was a great patriotic demonstration to the memory of emperor Alexander II, who the Finns saw as a noble ruler who had sought to limit the autocracy of the emperor.During the Russification of Finland started in 1899 by Nicholas II of Russia - the grandson of Alexander II - the statue became established as the site of anti-Russian demonstrations, remembering Alexander II who had become popularised as the "liberator emperor". There are currently only two monuments to Alexander II outside Russia on public spaces. The other one is the Monument to the Tsar Liberator in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. The sculpture by Mark Antokolsky is on the courtyard of the Russian art museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. There is a monumental column designed by N.I. Barinov and A.K. Brun in the Alexander Park in Odessa.

The Market Square (Finnish: Kauppatori, Swedish: Salutorget) is a central square in Helsinki, Finland. It is located in central Helsinki, at the eastern end of Esplanadi and bordering the Baltic Sea to the south and Katajanokka to the east. HSL maintains a year-round ferry link from Market Square to Suomenlinna, and in the summer there are also private companies providing ferry cruises, both to Suomenlinna and to other nearby islands. The Presidential Palace, Helsinki City Hall, Swedish Embassy and the Stora Enso Headquarters building (designed by Alvar Aalto) are all located adjacent to Market Square. From spring to autumn, the Market Square is active with vendors selling fresh Finnish food and souvenirs. There are also many outdoor cafés at the square. Some cafés also provide meat pastries (Finnish: lihapiirakka). The height of the square's popularity is in early October, when the annual Helsinki herring market (silakkamarkkinat) begins. A long tradition at the Market Square is a display of old American cars on the first Friday of every month. Any motorist with an interest in old American cars may participate in the display. Seagulls have become an increasing menace in the Market Square, swooping down to snatch snacks and ice cream from the hands of unsuspecting tourists.

The Cholera basin (Finnish: Kolera-allas, Swedish: Kolerabassängen) is the established name for the western harbour basin in front of the Market Square in Helsinki, Finland.

The Presidential Palace (Finnish: Presidentinlinna, Swedish: Presidentens slott) is one of the three official residences of the President of the Republic of Finland. It is situated in Helsinki, on the north side of Esplanadi, overlooking Market Square.

The herring market or herring fair (Finnish: silakkamarkkinat, Swedish: strömmingsmarknad) is an annual event held in various cities in Finland, notably in Helsinki in October. During the Helsinki herring market, many archipelagoans arrive in the South Harbour to sell fish and other archipelago products directly from their boats. The event is organised by the city of Helsinki. The first fair in Finland is considered to have been held in Turku in 1636. The Helsinki event is also very old; it said to have first been held in 1743. In 1820 its place was settled as the South Harbour. The event has been forgotten from time to time, for various reasons, but in the 1980s it was revived and has become very popular. In addition to the Helsinki and Turku fairs, the fair held at Rauma is also notable.