The underground church in Helsinki - carved out of the rock

Hey guys,

today its my last post again about Helsinki, more precisely about the rock church in Helsinki. The church impressed me so much that I wanted to dedicate a whole post to it. A little tip right at the beginning: Free entrance to the Temppeliaukio Church (as the rock church is also called) is available with the Helsinki Card.

Otherwise, the entrance fee for adults is 4 euros, for children it is free. How the visiting hours (and whether you can visit the church at all) during Corona, I unfortunately do not know.

But now it should be more precise about the church. Just before Easter I thought it would be a good occasion to mention once this special church in a post of mine.

The rock church is probably the most unusual church in Helsinki. In Finnish it is also called "Temppeliaukion Kirkko". It is evangelishc and actually relatively new: only in 1969 it was built, or rather "hewn out of the rock". The brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen designed it in the style of expressionism. And again, this is an architectural highlight: the church is a particularly good example of Finnish architecture in the 1960s.

The church is evangelical: interesting to know: It is true that only about half of the people in Helsinki belong to the Protestant Church. On the other hand, this proportion is considerably higher in Finland as a whole. On the other hand, the proportion of people who do not belong to any religion is larger in Helsinki than in the rest of the country. Nevertheless, the church is as much a part of Helsinki as any other landmark, and from what I've heard, the people of Helsinki can identify well with the church.

The Rock Church is really special compared to other churches: Although the church does not make a special impression from the outside, you can actually "miss" it very well if you do not look closely. Because you can recognize it only by big rocks. And there are more than enough of them in Helsinki ;)

Nevertheless, something that catches your eye: A huge door leads visitors directly into the church and thus "into" the rock.

What I found very impressive nud also surprising: Just from the outside when you look at the door and the rock you imagine a small underground church (of course only if you know about it). In fact, I had imagined something more like a grotto ;)

But if you get inside the rock, you quickly realize how much larger the church is. With a dark grotto has then not much to do ;) In fact, everything is much larger and also more open and brighter than I had suspected.

If you go through the door, you enter the church through a dark corridor. What I found very beautiful: The walls of the church interior are made of the bare rock. Thus, they remind a bit of a cave (so not quite wrong with my imagination after all ;)). And although the church is an underground church, it is brighter than many an above-ground church.

What also makes the church very special are the special dome and the ceiling made of copper. Also noteworthy are the golden organ pipes. Especially when the light shines through the glass windows that lead to the dome on the organ, this fannz shines especially.

The church has not lost its purpose as a church despite the impressive building and the numerous visitors that come with it: Many church services, weddings, baptisms and funerals are held here. In addition, the church is also used as a venue for concerts. While visiting the church, I could not be impressed by the sounds in such an extraordinary building, but I am sure that it sounds at least as good as in other above-ground churches. Unfortunately, it is not possible to visit the church during the services. The normal opening hours are always between 10 am and 5 pm.

What is in any case very striking: the rock church is supposed to show the affinity of the Finns to nature and religion and to combine both. Interestingly, as is so often the case with famous buildings, a large part of the people of Helsinki were originally against the construction. In addition, there are no pictures, statues or ornaments in the church (as is usually the case in churches). The interior seems to me rather "modern", perhaps strikingly Scandinavian, it is simple but not simple. The pews in the church are painted blue and covered in purple.

Perhaps this has a historical background: in the Protestant church year, the color is purple in preparation for Christian festivals.

What surprised me most was that the church has no bell. Instead, bell music is transferred through loudspeakers. And this is the best way to reach the church: From the main train station it can be reached in western direction.

A nearby attraction that you can visit is, for example, the National Museum of Finland.

I hope you liked my post and you find the church and its architecture at least as impressive as I do :) Feel free to leave me your feedback! See you next time!

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