Helsinki was founded in 1550 by King Gustav I of Sweden, who ordered the creation of a trading town named Helsingfors at the mouth of the Vantaa River, in order to compete with the Hanseatic city of Tallinn across the Gulf of Finland. The town was small and poor for its first two centuries, and it was moved to a better harbour on the peninsula where the centre now lies in the seventeenth century. The Swedes built the sea fortress of Sveaborg in the eighteenth century. After Russia took Finland from Sweden, Tsar Alexander I made Helsinki the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812, and the city was rebuilt in neoclassical style by Carl Ludvig Engel. It has been the capital of independent Finland since 1917.
Before and after
- January 1548Birth of Giordano Bruno
- 1550Construction of Süleymaniye Mosque
- 1550Founding of Concepción
- 1 February 1550Birth of John Napier
- 12 June 1550Founding of Helsinki
- from 15 August 1550 to 4 May 1551Valladolid debate
- from 9 August 1551 to 15 August 1551Siege of Tripoli
- from March 1552 to August 1552Princes' Revolt
- from 1553 to 1559Invasion of Corsica
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 6 August 1538Founding of Bogotá
- 1541Founding of Santiago
- 11 March 1565Founding of Rio de Janeiro
- from 26 July 1581 to 19 January 1795Dutch Republic
- 1614Founding of Tirana
- 1624Founding of New York City
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.