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and their history. A National Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments set up in 1872 was declared permanent in 1881, and the listing and restoration of the country's historic buildings and monuments began. The first detailed schedule of historic monuments in Budapest was compiled by Jeno Kismarty Lechner in 1924. In 1959 a new schedule was drawn up in accordance with revised legislation, and restoration of buildings of various ages in accordance with up-to-date preservation principles began. Since 1957 restoration, related research work and collection of material has been controlled by a National Monument Inspectorate, while the preservation of historic buildings and monuments in the capital has been entrusted to the Budapest Monument Inspectorate responsible to the City Development and Architectural Department of the Budapest Council. Act III/1964 again amended the law on the preservation of historic buildings and monuments and included the concept of areas of historic importance.

Of the projects completed, the reconstruction of the Royal Palace and of the entire Castle District is the most important. It included excavation of the medieval palace and other buildings that had been covered by several metres of earth. Long forgotten Gothic doors and windows, and other medieval details, were discovered in most of the damaged buildings of the Castle District. Today both the Palace and the Castle District as a whole reflect the medieval Hungarian capital with greater authenticity than before. Excavations in the centre of Pest have brought to light the remains of Contra-Aquincum's fortifications and the foundations of the Hatvan and Kecskemet Gates and their round bastions. During reconstruction and the erection of new housing estates in Cbuda several hitherto unknown remains of Aquincum have been unearthed.

Helsinki

Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is situated on the south coast of the country, on three promontories surrounded by archipelagos. The geographical position of the city centre (Kallionkirkko-Kallio Church) is longitude 24057/ east and latitude 6009/ north. The terrain is low-lying and rocky. Along the coast the outcrops mostly range from з to 40 metres high, the highest being 62.30 metres. The coastline is gradually receding due to a general rise in ground level of 2.7 mm. a year.

Nine main roads lead into Helsinki, five of which are national motorways and four mainly serving local traffic. Seven of the nine main radial thoroughfares in the city are designed for long distance and urban motor traffic; they connect the city's main road network with areas one to five kilometres from the city centre.

Helsinki and its surroundings are the only region of Finland where suburban rail traffic is of any importance. Local services extend 70 kilometres along the northern main line and 40 kilometres along the coastal line. The average number of local passengers carried is 552,855 per day.

At the time of the census on 2003, Helsinki's population numbered 574,700 which was 10.6% of the population of Finland. In 1970 there were 271,524 persons actively employed.

The city's total area is 185.8 sq.km., of which 86.2 sq. km. is covered by the current development plan. Of the latter, 44.3 sq.km. are built up; the city's green belt and similar areas make up 41.9 sq.km.

Helsinki owes its foundation to the growth of the sea routes along the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland and to the coastal land routes running east and west; north-south routes existed as well. In medieval times the broad River Vantaa flowed from the central region of Harne to the natural harbours along the shore; from earliest times sea routes led from there over the Gulf of Finland to the trading centres of Estonia.

Communications and trade both encouraged settlement and economic activity to grow up along the river, which accounts for its position on the Vantaa estuary. Hunters and settlers in the Helsinki region soon became accustomed to strangers using the island and river routes. The northern shore of the Gulf of Finland became familiar to Swedish seafarers in Viking

times, and after the city of Tallinn had been founded in the 13th century, Hanseatic merchants also appeared. The original inhabitants of the Helsinki region were partly Finnish (mainly from Hame) and partly Swedish. The name Helsinki would suggest that the Swedish inhabitants had come from Helsingland in Sweden.

The foundation of Helsinki was one result of the endeavours by the Swedish King Gustavus Vasa I to establish a powerful mercantile community along the shores of the Baltic. (Finland formed part of the Kingdom of Sweden from the 12th century until 1809.) To implement this plan, he issued mercantile and navigational statutes on February 1, 1550, in which he also ordered the construction of a new city on the Island of Santa-hamina. His aim was to build centres of trading that could compete with the Hanseatic city of Tallinn for control of the Russian trade. However, since the king's Finnish representatives and the local inhabitants preferred the Vantaa estuary, it was there that Gustavus fixed the site of the new city, to which the inhabitants of Povoo, Tammisaari, Rauma and Ulvila were ordered to move.

Helsinki was not actually granted a charter, but it received its first privileges from John III in 1569. By this document, the city acquired a territory of 8.33 sq.km., including the villages of Kumpula and Koskela, and the islands in the Vantaa estuary.

No officially approved town plan was ever drawn up for the city on the Vantaa estuary. Following the lie of the land, it spread gradually westwards from the river-mouth. According to the wishes of local advisers and the newly settled inhabitants, about 70 house sites and a number of streets were marked out with pales. However, the city did not fulfil the expectations placed upon it. The greatest obstacle tojits development was its distance from the open sea, at the upper end of a silted-up channel that was difficult to navigate. Its population never exceeded 600, and it became increasingly obvious to the country's rulers that the city had to be moved nearer to the shore. This was eventually done by Governor – General Per Brahe.

Following a few intermediate stages, a site for the new city was found on the Vironniemi promontory, with sheltered bays on either side. The move was ratified by statute on October 2, 1639, and the present – day city has grown up around it.

The land on which Helsinki would be built was made over for the purpose by royal decree on November 20, 1643, which also confirmed the city's right to the lands it had been granted earlier, and simultaneously granted it all the privileges of a city. Helsinki now covered an area of 12.35 sq.km., comprising 10.08 sq.km. of mainland and 2.27 sq.km. of islands. The majority of the land was near the village of Toolo, which became the focus of expansion during the following three centuries. The southern end of the Vironniemi promontory, known also as Kruunuhaka, and the neighbourhood of the Senaatin-tori (Senate

Square) were allocated for housing, while the land along the main routes out of the city were farmed. The town plan of Anders Torstenson, a Swede, was a typically Baroque conception. It divided the city into four parts, with the road network converging on a central square surrounded by public buildings and trading houses. Artisans' workshops and early industrial buildings were situated immediately outside this centre. The single-storey dwelling houses of the petty bourgeoisie occupied the outer districts of the city, which was ringed by various military buildings, granaries, arsenals, and so on.

In 1710 the city, which then had 1,000 – 2,000 inhabitants, was devastated by an outbreak of plague claiming 650 lives. The Helsinki of the 17th century was destroyed totally in 1713, when the townspeople set it on fire as the enemy approached during the Great Nordic War (1700 – 1721). Between 1713 and 1721, the years the Finns call 'the period of great warfare', Russian troops occupied the city and a considerable part of the country.

Rebuilding commenced in 1723, following the guidelines of the 17th century town plan. The area involved was no larger than before, but it was more densely built upon as the plots were subdivided: with the exception of a few central plots of 3,000 sq.m., the average size was 400 sq.m.

The town plan was a fairly typical one, but not entirely regular geometrically, since the uneven terrain and differences in levels influenced the layout of the streets. The streets were straight except where they had to skirt hills, as the main Hameenkatu thoroughfare did. Main streets were about ten metres wide, and numbered some 20 in all. The inhabited area was approximately half a kilometer wide. During the 18th century there were only about ten stone houses in Helsinki. All were of two to three storeys and simple in design. One of the two that have survived is Sederholm House, the oldest in Helsinki, built in 1757.

Most of the houses were built of wood; the better – class ones were twostoreyed with a mansard roof, the mansard roofs being ousted by the gables and thatched roofs with the spread of Neoclassicism.

The various functions served by Helsinki were reflected in its layout. It began as a-merchant town and long retained its staple character. When the Kingdom lost its eastern marches in wars, Helsinki was forced into fortifying itself. The fortifications originally known as the Viapori in Finnish and the Sveaberg in Swedish are today called the Suomenlinna; they were built according to the plans of Augustin Ehrensvard on the archipelago opposite the headland. Construction began in 1748 and their completion made Helsinki the most important garrison city in Finland. The army and naval officers garrisoned in the Viapori brought with them the ideas of Enlightenment, and by their contacts with the urban bourgeoisie contributed to the cultural development of the city. The construction of the Viapori fortifications opened a new chapter in the life of Helsinki, both materially and intellectually.

By the end of the 18th century Helsinki had a population of 3,000 and was already the chief city and administrative centre of Unsimaa-Hame province.

Its triple role determined the city's development: the commercial, military and administrative activities complemented each other, but the question of the use and ownership of land brought disagreement between the crown and the merchants. The spreading of the ramparts from the island to the mainland was long considered desirable but, mainly for lack of money, it was never done. The plan to make Helsinki a fully fortified city was abandoned at the close of the 18th century.

Fire was the worst enemy of the timber – built city. The wooden buildings of the 18th century were largely destroyed by fire in the autumn of 1808. This disaster and the war of 1808 – 1809 brought an end to an era of peace in the little harbour city.

The beginning of the new century also brought great changes in the history of Finland as a whole. The Peace of Hamina in 1809 broke the centuries – old link with Sweden. Instead, Finland was annexed as an autonomous Grand Duchy to Tsarist Russia. The capital during the Swedish period had been Turku, which lay close to Sweden proper; so for military and political reasons Russia decided to transfer the capital of the Grand Duchy from Turku to Helsinki in 1812.

The design of new residential districts was begun at the same time. The planning and supervision of construction were put in the hands of a body known as the Helsinki Reconstruction Committee. Johan Albert Ehrenstrom, a former army officer, returned from Sweden to his native country and took charge of the work. The basic plan for the reconstruction was Eh-renstrom's own work, and it was adopted as a plan for the whole city in 1817. However, further design work went on for a protracted period, only ending with yet another master plan dated 1875, which was never in fact approved. It was to be the last attempt to make an authoritative master plan for the whole city in the spirit of the new Tsarist Helsinki.

Construction of the city as a capital began in the 1820s but ceased in the mid-19th century, when the low – interest loans essential for private enterprise building were withdrawn. The rise in the city's population levelled off at around the same time.

Ehrenstrom's master plan gave priority to the public sector's requirements, and the various functions of the city were clearly separated from one another in different districts. The administrative district, built of stone and traversed by broad boulevards, was segregated from the new residential, warehouse and garrisons districts. A new, more regular shoreline was created by infilling of the deep inlets. The Helsinki of Tsarist times was to become not only an administrative centre, but also a "wealthy and populous commercial city". Mercantile principles at the time favoured centring foreign trade on the capital,

and for that reason the harbour was transferred to its present site and the approaches deepened. The result was the Kauppatori (Market Square), spacious even by present-day standards, and the plentiful docks and wharves. Although the concept of a fortified city had been abandoned, Helsinki remained a garrison city with four big barrack complexes. Taken as a whole, Ehrenstrem's master plan was of generous proportions. The centre he created for a city of 10,000 inhabitants today serves the needs of a city of 500,000.

Some of the public buildings around which Ehrenstrom's plan revolved were never built, but for the buildings in the Senate Square vicinity his guidelines were followed. Several different architects have left their mark upon the centre of Helsinki. Architects Bassi and Desprez had brought the influence of Neoclassicism to Finland, but otherwise there had been few architectural resources. The German-born Carl Ludwig Engel, who during the Napoleonic wars had found his way into the service of the Tsar and become the city architect of Tallinn, was the father of a new school. On one of his visits to Turku he passed through Helsinki and met Ehrenstrom. In 1816 the Tsar appointed Engel as architect to the Reconstruction Committee. Later, he was made head of the Intendant's Office (Clerk of the Works), where he handled all public building projects and became responsible for the design of public buildings throughout the country.

Engel's appointment marked the dawn of a development era on a scale unparalleled in the history of Nordic architecture. Monumental buildings were erected with great speed in swift succession. Engel's colonnaded facades bore the unmistakable stamp of Neoclassicism. On the south side of Senate Square rose a homogeneous row of three – storeyed buildings, and the Guards Headquarters built on the north side was Engel's work as well. (Later this was transferred to another site.) The Senate House, now part of.the Council of State Building, was constructed between 1818 and 1821, and later extended to fill the entire block. Further out, beyond the limits of the centre, several important buildings designed by Engel were erected, among them the GovernorGeneral's Residence (now the Banqueting Hall of the Council of State), the Guards Barracks in Kasarmitori Square, the Naval Garrison on Katajanokka and a number of private houses in various parts of the city.

The Reconstruction Committee had completed its work by 1825, but Engel's activities continued unabated. The great fire in Turku in 1827 led to the transfer of the 200-year-old university to Helsinki, where Engel designed a new university building on the side of the square opposite the Senate House. Its noble and restful facade, spacious entrance lobby and crescent – shaped assembly hall with its Corinthian columns make it one of Engel's best works, although his University Library on Unioninkatu is considered the finest of all. The Russian military hospital (now the Hospital for Internal Diseases), built in 1826 – 1832 and also designed by Engel, consists of three Empire style

buildings which with the University and University Library form a harmonious whole with a street frontage of altogether 300 metres. The Botanical Institute, the Observatory, the City Hall and the President's Palace (formerly the Helsinki residence of the Tsars) were all built by Engel in this period.

Engel's church buildings form a category of their own. They include the wooden Vanha Kirkko (Old Church) in the Kamppi district, the Greek Orthodox Holy Trinity Church in Kruunuhaka and his most impressive piece of ecclesiastical architecture: the Nikolai Church in Senate Square, nowadays known as the Cathedral (1832 – 52, Engel and Lohrmann). The original simplicity of the Cathedral, with its nave intersected by the transepr in the shape of a Greek cross, was compromised by the addition against Engel's wishes of four small towers.

Carl Ludwig Engel's work in Helsinki spanned a quarter of a century, during which he designed more than 20 public buildings which today dominate the city centre.

The architects responsible for the reconstruction of Helsinki, Engel and his best – known pupils A. F. Granstedt and Jean Wiik, were exponents of the Neoclassical style that had become popular in Europe at the close of the 18th century. The style reached Finland by way of Russia, where it flourished for some time as the Tsarist or Empire style. Warm yellow and brilliant white were the preferred colours. As was the case in St Petersburg, in Helsinki Engel was wont to incorporate columns and pilasters on his buildings, which were usually of three storeys, treating the ground floor as plinth for the columns. He broke up his facades into rhythmically spaced main and ancillary bays. Only in the Cathedral did he use a portico entrance after the manner of German Neoclassicism. A more refined style is already discernible in the facades of the University, the City Hall and some private residences. The Empire style gradually gave way to the influence of Biedermeier, and Neoclassicism declined in new Helsinki buildings after 1840, to be superseded by various styles of historical revival. After 1880 leading architects were attracted to Gothic or Neo-Renaissance style. Of their works mention should be made of the Vasa Bank, St John's Church, the State Archives, the National Gallery (Athenaeum), the houses numbered 25 – 35 on thе Pohjoinen Esplanadikatu (North Esplanade), and the Bank of Finland.

But it was the Neoclassical period in the 19th century that had a decisive effect upon the later development of the city. The present layout of the centre of Helsinki is still based on Ehrenstrom's projects and fundamental concepts.

After a certain time gradual industrialization and the diversification of the economy brought a growth in the population and required a reorganization of Helsinki's administration. The powers exercised since the foundation of the city by the mayor and the city magistrates were taken over by a City Council. The new body held its first meeting in 1875. The administrative reform also

brought planning and construction under the control of the local authorities. As a result of industrial expansion and Russia's liberal economic policy, the Tsars ceased to show interest in the city's development plans, but the government of Finland, the Senate, reserved for itself the right to give final approval for all building projects. The new planning organizations were slow to adapt themselves to the changed circumstances, and from a historical point of view, decisions appear often to have been born out of compromise.

In the wake of industrialization, planning inevitably acquired new aspects. In 1870 the population of Helsinki amounted to 29,000, not including the garrison, and by 1910 it had grown to 130,000. The fact that Helsinki was becoming an industrial city could be felt in every field. Country-wide trading organizations, banks, insurance companies and joint-stock companies were set up, and the times demanded monumental buildings of a new type to house the headquarters of these economic institutions in the city's business centre.

Helsinki's growth started at the beginning of the 1860s but its final development into a metropolis began after 1880. In the course of time the changes in social structure affected also the outward appearance of the city. Industrial development involved the building of new factories, while the increase in population called for the construction of more and more housing.

Earlier agreements made it difficult to increase the areas that could be covered by the development and improvement plans. Although the city owned considerable areas of land, it had not retained its rights to develop them, since long-term leases had been sold to private individuals. Consequently there was no other solution to the problem of a rising population than to channel new settlers to the very outskirts of the city. Sites were leased specifically for the building of single-family-houses. Industry was directed towards zones in the north and south of the city. The first public utilities-gas, electricity and drainage-were set up. At first they were run privately, but in the early 19th century control gradually passed to the city. Around the same time the first specifically working-class district, Kallio-Sornainen, developed. Several small settlements were formed along the railway lines built in 1862, 1870 and T907; their success relied on the development of the capital and opportunities for employment. Initially the new communities hindered the city's expansion, but they later formed the basis for its territorial growth. Some became part of Helsinki as early as 1906 and 1926, but most were only incorporated in 1946, when the city's territory was greatly expanded and a new approach to suburban planning and city development as a whole was taken.

The 1906 plan for the Toolo district was the first concrete result of the attempt to incorporate complete suburban areas into the planning sphere. Modern development methods gradually gained ground. Helsinki came to be seen as a geographic whole, and the zones for its various functions were delineated. The first master plan in the modern sense was drawn up in 1911. In

1918 soon after Finland became independent (December 6, 1917) with Helsinki as its capital, the well-known Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen proposed a daring solution for Greater Helsinki, in which he sharply defined the city's different functions; the districts already developed were to be regarded as fait accompli, and careful consideration was given to planning residential districts that would meet the requirements of the various social classes.

Today Helsinki has a long-term master plan, an improvement plan and a detailed building plan. The drawing up and co-ordination of plans for land usage are subject to approval by the City Council, the City Board, the City Planning Committee and the City Planning Department. The Economic Planning Section is the body responsible for medium and long-range planning and costing of projects, while the Architectural Planning Commission governs the planning of housing. Local authority departments supervise house building and costing by owner-occupiers.

Helsinki co-ordinates its activities with the surrounding communities. The government takes part in regional planning either directly or through various organizations such as the Helsinki Regional Planning Corporation and the Joint Co-operative Council of the Helsinki Area.

The control of building activities was traditionally the province of the city. In the mid-18th century it became the custom in Helsinki to distribute responsibilities among the magistrates on an annual basis, so that any one of them might take charge of building in rotation. Later in the same century a specially qualified magistrate was given permanent responsibility. In 1777 the city administration of Helsinki decreed that notification of intent to build was to be given in advance to the magistrate concerned. The plans for every public building had to be sent to Stockholm for approval by the building authorities there, and very often it was the Stockholm officials who themselves designed

the buildings.

After Finland's annexation to Russia, the laws of the Swedish period, including those applying to building activity, still remained in force. Offices were established in Finland to replace the central offices based in Stockholm. Supreme control of public building was exercised by the Intendant's Office, set up in 1810, which also had to approve the elevations of new buildings. (The successor to the Intendant's Office is the Rakennushallitus or National Board of Building.) When Helsinki became the capital of the Grand Duchy in 1812, control over building and improvement was delegated to the Helsinki Reconstruction Committee. After the dissolution of this body in 1825, building became the responsibility of local authorities, particularly of city architects working under the supervision of the magistrates. In 1878 infilling, embankments and other civil engineering work came under the authority of the Building Office (today the Rakennusvirasto), which was also responsible for the building the city itself undertook.

The first building regulations in Finland were drafted at the beginning of the 19th century. Earlier directives had referred to the whole country and mainly stressed fire precautions. The first building regulations for Helsinki came into force in 1825. They laid down the legal powers and responsibilities of both officials and private builders with regard to the town plan, even down to the painting of houses. The building regulations were generally divided into three sections: the first applied to the town plan, the second to the plots and how they were to be built, and the third to the methods of construction to be employed. Drawings were to be submitted for all buildings. The Senate's approval was required for the plans of public buildings, while those of private houses were to be approved first by the local administration, and then by the provincial governor. Drawings were to show the size of the building, its outward appearance and internal layout. A site plan, a section and an elevation drawing were required for official purposes. Before building could start planning permission had to be obtained from a committee including the chairman of the magistrates, the mayor, two or three other magistrates and two experts. To ensure more efficient control over building use was made from 1850 of a land register in which the boundaries of the plots and the position of the buildings were recorded. Building inspections were entered in a survey book of minutes, and a separate book was kept for reports on buildings considered by the city administration. At the close of the 19th century, the regulations on the submission of plans were tightened. They had to be drawn to certain fixed scales and bear a signature. Reports on inspections had to contain a statement on the structural soundness of the buildings. In special cases the city administration had recourse to the provincial building office for assistance.

The competence of the city administration was mainly limited to adjudication. The city architects and the inspectors of the National Board of Building did not have time to examine every individual case. Efficient control of the increasing building activity would have required the setting up of more local bodies. In 1895 the City Council appointed a special architect as inspector of buildings, initially on a part-time basis. In addition, a representative from the City Council and a medical officer from the Board of Health took part in inspections. In 1908 the post of building inspector with statutory powers was created in Helsinki. His duties comprised the supervision of building projects in Helsinki and its environs with the exception of building work by the state. In 1912 an Office for Building Inspection was organized to discharge the same duties.

In 1924 a special commission was set up for the inspection of facades. It consisted of the building inspector, the city architect, the planning officer and two members of the City Council, the latter elected for a period of one year. In this way responsibility for inspection of facades passed from a state official to the City Office for Building Inspection.