Olympic Stadium

Helsinki, Finland

The story of Olympic Stadium began in 1927, when City of Helsinki and several sport associations created the Stadium Foundation. The purpose of foundation was to build an adequate venue for the summer olympics. Construction of the Olympic Stadium began in 1934 and it was completed in 1938. It was designed in functionalistic style by the architects Yrjö Lindegren and Toivo Jäntti.

The stadium was built to host the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were moved from Tokyo to Helsinki before being cancelled due to World War II. After 12 years delay the XVth Olympic Games were finally held in Helsinki Olympic Stadium in 1952. The stadium was also the venue for the first World Athletics Championships in 1983 as well as for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. It is also the home stadium of the Finland national football team.

Olympic Stadium is still in active use. The National Sports Museum is also situated to the stadium and the 72 meters high tower is popular place to see the nice view over the downtown of Helsinki.

Comments

Your name

Website (optional)


Address

Paavo Nurmen Tie 1, Helsinki, Finland
See all sites in Helsinki

Details

Founded: 1934-1938
Category:
Historical period: Independency (Finland)

More Information

www.stadion.fi
en.wikipedia.org
www.urheilumuseo.fi

Rating

4.2/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Suomenlinna (5,4 km)
Helsinki Cathedral (2,3 km)
Parliament House (1,6 km)
The National Museum of Finland (1,3 km)
Senate Square (2,4 km)
Uspenski Cathedral (2,7 km)
Seurasaari Open-Air Museum (2,5 km)
Observatory Hill (3,1 km)
Ateneum Art Museum (2,1 km)


The Church of St. Lawrence (11,2 km)
Kirkkonummi Church (27,9 km)
Espoo Cathedral (15,4 km)
Espoo Manor (19,1 km)
Tuusula Church (25,8 km)
Söderkulla Manor (24,4 km)
Hvitträsk (22,4 km)
Alikartano (45 km)
Gumböle Manor (17,5 km)

User Reviews

maxin john (3 months ago)
Historically significant
Anrijs Skenderskis (4 months ago)
Gonna be great stadium when it's finished
Tomáš Matoušek (5 months ago)
Nice park, but reconstraction
Sue Clark (8 months ago)
It was under construction and you really couldn't see anything other than 2 statues. Very disappointed
Oráiste Naranja (2 years ago)
We went here in the hope of both seeing the Olympic stadium and perhaps having a glimpse of the famous eagle owls that are on the area. Neither happened. The stadium was being renovated and you could not get too close to it. And the Finnish bird group are quite rude and never reply to any emails regarding getting help to see the birds. Very disappointed.
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Top historic sights of Istria
Photo from Flickr, copyright Guido Rudolph

Historic Site of the week

Lübeck Cathedral

Lübeck Cathedral is a large brick-built Lutheran cathedral in Lübeck, Germany and part of the Lübeck UNESCO World Heritage Site. In 1173 Henry the Lion founded the cathedral to serve the Diocese of Lübeck, after the transfer in 1160 of the bishop's seat from Oldenburg in Holstein under bishop Gerold. The then Romanesque cathedral was completed around 1230, but between 1266 and 1335 it was converted into a Gothic-style building with side-aisles raised to the same height as the main aisle.

On the night of Palm Sunday (28–29 March) 1942 a Royal Air Force bombing raid destroyed a fifth of the town centre. Several bombs fell in the area around the church, causing the eastern vault of the quire to collapse and destroying the altar which dated from 1696. A fire from the neighbouring cathedral museum spread to the truss of the cathedral, and around noon on Palm Sunday the towers collapsed. An Arp Schnitger organ was lost in the flames. Nevertheless, a relatively large portion of the internal fittings was saved, including the cross and almost all of the medieval polyptychs. In 1946 a further collapse, of the gable of the north transept, destroyed the vestibule almost completely.

Reconstruction of the cathedral took several decades, as greater priority was given to the rebuilding of the Marienkirche. Work was completed only in 1982.

The cathedral is unique in that at 105 m, it is shorter than the tallest church in the city. This is the consequence of a power struggle between the church and the guilds.

The 17 m crucifix is the work of the Lübeck artist Bernt Notke. It was commissioned by the bishop of Lübeck, Albert II. Krummendiek, and erected in 1477. The carvings which decorate the rood screen are also by Notke.

Since the war, the famous altar of Hans Memling has been in the medieval collection of the St. Annen Museum, but notable polyptychs remain in the cathedral.

In the funeral chapels of the southern aisle are Baroque-era memorials by the Flemish sculptor Thomas Quellinus.

Map Top Sights Tags Historical Periods City Guides About Us Sign Up Upload new site
© 2019 SpottingHistory.com. All rights reserved.