Tampere City Central Office Building

The Tampere City Hall (Finnish: Tampereen Raatihuone; Swedish: Tammerfors rådhus) is a Neo-Renaissance building in Tampere, Finland, situated at the edge of the Tampere Central Square. The current city hall was built in 1890 and was designed by Georg Schreck. The palacial building has many halls and the city of Tampere holds many events there. During the Great Strike in 1905, the so-called "Red Manifest" was read from the balcony of the Tampere City Hall.

Tampere ( TAM-pər-ay, US also TAM-pər-ə, TAHM-pər-ay, Finnish: [ˈtɑmpere] ; Swedish: Tammerfors, Finland Swedish: [tɑmærˈforsː] ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 255,066; the urban area has a population of 341,696; and the metropolitan area, also known as the Tampere sub-region, has a population of 416,653 in an area of 4,970 km2 (1,920 sq mi). Tampere is the second largest urban area and the third most populous single municipality in Finland, after the cities of Helsinki and Espoo, and the most populous Finnish city outside the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. Today, Tampere is one of the most important urban, economic and cultural centres in the entire inland region.Tampere and its surroundings are part of the historic province of Satakunta. The area belonged to the province of Häme from 1831 to 1997; over time, it has often been considered a province of Tavastia. For example, in Uusi tietosanakirja, published in the 1960s, the Tampere sub-region is presented as part of the then province of Tavastia. Around the 1950s, Tampere and its surroundings began to establish themselves as a separate province of Pirkanmaa. Tampere became the centre of Pirkanmaa, and Tammermaa was also used several times in the early days of the province, for example in the Suomi-käsikirja published in 1968.Tampere is wedged between two lakes, Lake Näsijärvi and Lake Pyhäjärvi, with an 18 m (59 ft) difference in water level, and the rapids that connect them, Tammerkoski, have been an important source of power throughout history, most recently for generating electricity. Tampere is known as the "Manchester of the North" because of its past as a centre of Finnish industry, which has given rise to its Finnish nickname "Manse" and terms such as "Manserock". Tampere has also been officially declared the "Sauna Capital of the World" because it has the most public saunas in the world.Helsinki is about 160 km (100 mi) south of Tampere and can be reached by Pendolino high-speed train in 1 hour 31 minutes and by car in 2 hours. The distance to Turku is about the same. The Tampere–Pirkkala Airport is the eighth busiest airport in Finland, with more than 230,000 passengers using it in 2017. Tampere is also an important transit route for three Finnish highways: Highway 3 (E12), Highway 9 (E63) and Highway 12. The Tampere light rail had two lines when it started operating in 2021.Tampere is ranked 26th in the list of 446 hipster cities in the world and is often rated as the most popular city in Finland. The positive development of Tampere and the Tampere metropolitan area has continued into the 21st century, largely due to the fact that Tampere is one of the most attractive cities in Finland.

Hämeenkatu is the main street of Tampere, Finland, located in the city center. The boulevard is roughly a kilometre long, and 28.5 metres (94 ft) wide (driveway and sidewalk) at its widest point. Hämeenkatu is a boulevard, which begins from the east at the Tampere railway station, continues westward to the Hämeenpuisto park, and is covered with cobble stones for its entire length. The street also contains the Hämeensilta bridge crossing the Tammerkoski rapids with gorgeous views on both sides. The bridge that Hämeenkatu runs across Tammerkoski is decorated with four human statues, one at each corner of the bridge. Of these statues, three represent men and one represents a woman. Eastwards from the railway station, Hämeenkatu is followed by the 700-metre (2,300 ft)-long Itsenäisyydenkatu, which then diverges into Sammonkatu and Teiskontie. In the west, Hämeenkatu continues first as Pirkankatu and then as Pispalan valtatie. Construction of the Tampere light rail on the street started in 2017, and in connection to the work, the pedestrian walkways, trees along the street and lighting were renovated and the Hämeensilta bridge was repaired. The Tampere light rail will be finished in 2021.

The Tampere Central Square (Finnish: Keskustori) is a public square in the centre of Tampere, Finland, along the main street Hämeenkatu. The Central Square is located on the western shore of Tammerkoski and many important buildings in Tampere are located near it. These include the Tampere City Hall, the Tampere City Central Office Building, the Old Church of Tampere and the Tampere Theatre. The Central Square was called Kauppatori ("Market Square") until 1936.

The Commerce house is a five-floor residential and business building in Tampere, Finland, located along the Hämeenkatu street and the Tampere Central Square at the so-called Jugendtori square, built in 1899. The building represents the Art Nouveau style and was designed by the Helsinki-based architecture bureau Andersin, Jung ja Bomanson (architects Bertel Jung, Waldemar Andersin and Oscar Bomanson). The name of the building comes from the French word commerce, meaning business or commerce.For a long time, the building hosted the Hotel Central, founded in 1907. The hotel was later renamed Hotel Centrum. The corner business space of the building hosted the Ensimmäinen apteekki pharmacy ("first pharmacy", originally spelled Ensimäinen apteekki according to the spelling rules at the time) until 1983, after which it hosted Finland's first McDonald's hamburger restaurant on 14 December 1984. For a short time, from 1983 to 1984, the business space hosted a Burger King restaurant. In May 2010 the restaurant was threatened by a fire which had started from the fat fryer in the McDonald's restaurant. The repairs of the fire damage lasted for two years and the McDonald's restaurant was reopened in spring 2012. The McDonald's restaurant was closed down in autumn 2015 and was replaced by a restaurant of the Friends & Brgrs hamburger restaurant chain in early 2016.

Keskusta ("City Centre") is a main district of the city of Tampere, Finland, formed by less than 20 suburbs in the city centre. Over 63,000 people live in Keskusta. It is located along the Tammerkoski rapids and its most important services include Tampere City Hall and the Market Hall.

Tampere Market Hall (Finnish: Tampereen kauppahalli; Swedish: Tammerfors saluhall) is one of the significant market places in Tampere, Finland. It is located in the center of city, between Hämeenkatu and Hallituskatu, and it was opened in 1901. It was decided to build the market in Tampere as a result of a large and unregulated market. It is the largest market hall in the Nordic countries. The floor area of the market hall is 2,100 m2 and the volume is about 18,500 m³. The market hall has 174 sales outlets and in 2013 there were 39 companies operating in them. 40 percent of the outlets are used in cafeterias and restaurants, which especially the restaurant 4 Vuodenaikaa ("Four Seasons") is very popular with both locals and tourists. The longest of the current stores in the mall have been Joenniemi Flower Shop (1940–) and Lindgren Bros. Meat Shop (1949–).

The Finlayson industrial area is a historic industrial area in the centre of Tampere, Finland. It is located in the Finlayson district to the west of the Tammerkoski rapids, north of the Satakunnankatu street. Opposite the area to the east of Tammerkoski is the Tampella former industrial area. Neither of the areas remain in industrial use today, but many of the old industrial buildings remain in their place. The Finlayson factory was founded in 1820 by Scottish industrialist James Finlayson. He commissioned a factory on the upper reaches of the Tammerkoski rapids. None of the original buildings commissioned by Finlayson remain to this day. Finlayson sold the factory to Carl Samuel Nottbeck and Georg Adolf Rauch in 1836. The new owners started to expand the factory. Nowadays the area is owned by the Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Company.

Plevna is a former industrial building located in the neighbourhood of Finlayson in central Tampere, Finland, hosting a Finnkino movie theatre, the brewery restaurant Plevna and the Koskipanimo microbrewery. The building was designed by architects Georg Gunliffe and F. L. Calonius for the textile manufacturer Finlayson Oy and built from 1876 to 1877. It housed the largest weaving hall in the Nordic countries upon completion, holding 1200 power looms. The red brick facade lacked windows and the weaving hall was illuminated through the ceiling windows.Plevna was the first building in the Nordic countries and the Russian Empire (which Finland was part of at the time) to be lit by electric lighting. The Thomas Edison electric light was first used in the building on 15 March 1882. A bridge was built in 1876 between the Plevna and Katuvapriikki buildings, which also served as the main entrance of the factory. The bridge has since been dismantled.The building is named after the city of Pleven, Bulgaria, and the 1877 siege of Plevna during the Russo-Turkish War, which also involved Finnish soldiers to commemorate it.

The Spy Museum is the world's first public museum of international espionage, located in Tampere, Finland. The museum was founded in 1998. The idea of the museum was invented by Teppo Turja, who founded the museum. The museum is the only one of its kind in Europe, besides Spy Museum Berlin.

The Väinö Linna Square (Finnish: Väinö Linnan aukio) is a courtyard-type square at the Finlayson's old factory area in Tampere, Finland. It is part of the Tammerkoski rapids' industrial landscape, which in 2009 was classified by the Finnish Heritage Agency as a nationally significant built cultural environment. Today, the buildings surrounding the square include the Werstas Labour Museum and Mehiläinen Private Hospital. The oldest building in the square is the six-storey old factory called Kuusivooninkinen (1837), which was Finland's first modern factory building. In 1995, the square was named after Väinö Linna, who formerly worked in that building and was later known as a very significant writer.Finlayson's textile production in the area ended in the mid-1990s, after which renovation of the buildings began. The Väinö Linna Square was renovated in 2005. At the same time, a new hospital was completed on its edge, on the site of a demolished factory building, and The Portrait of Väinö Linna (1995) was placed on the outer wall; the granite statue is one of the latest works by sculptor Raimo Heino.

The Rupriikki Media Museum is a history museum devoted to mass communication. It is located in the Vapriikki Museum Centre, in Tampere, Finland. Rupriikki showcases media history. Collections include cellular phones, radios, telephones, computers, and press materials.