After the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, Tsar Nicholas I ordered the Royal Academy of Turku be moved to the new capital city of the Grand Duchy of Finland, Helsinki, where the Imperial Alexander University of Finland began to operate the next year. Helsinki was to become Finland's window to the world; a European city to which the university belonged as an integral part. C. L. Engel, architect, was given the assignment of designing an Empire-style main building next to Senate Square, facing the Imperial Senate. Thanks to the lessons learnt from the fire of Turku, the library was built separate from other premises.

The plan concerning the concentration of university facilities dating back to the 1980s, aimed to achieve a closer unity between facilities. The City Centre Campus does not stand out from the rest of the urban environment but is a part of the city, in line with the old university tradition. The university facilities still form a functional and coherent whole, consisting not only of historically valuable buildings, but also of facilities for 20,000 students and 3,000 teachers and other staff.

Text: Petri Karttu
Translation: Valtasana Oy
Photo: Ida Pimenoff, Edulis Merenpohja

Faculties on campus:
Faculty of Theology
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Social Sciences