Editing Helsinki (section)

=== Founding of Helsinki ===
[[File:Helsinki Map 1645.png|thumb|left|upright|A map of Helsinki in 1645]]
Helsinki was founded by King [[Gustav I of Sweden]] on 12 June 1550 as a trading town called Helsingfors to rival the [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] city of Reval (now [[Tallinn]]) on the southern shore of the [[Gulf of Finland]].<ref name="Tabblo100">{{cite web |title=Ruttopuisto&nbsp;– Plague Park |url=http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/409531/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411112934/http://www.tabblo.com/studio/stories/view/409531/ |archive-date=11 April 2008 |access-date=3 November 2008 |publisher=Tabblo.com}}</ref><ref name="NKent" /> To populate the new town at the mouth of the [[Vantaa River]], the king ordered the [[bourgeoisie]] of [[Porvoo]], [[Raseborg]], [[Rauma, Finland|Rauma]] and [[Ulvila]] to [[Forced displacement|move]] there.<ref name="helsinki-history">{{cite web |title=Helsingin historia |url=http://www.hel.fi/www/Helsinki/fi/kaupunki-ja-hallinto/tietoa-helsingista/helsingin-historia-ja-arkistot/ |website=Helsingin kaupunki |language=fi}}</ref> The shallowness of the bay made it impossible to build a harbour, and the king allowed the settlers to leave the unfortunate location. In 1640, Count [[Per Brahe the Younger]], together with some descendants of the original settlers, moved the centre of the city to the [[Vironniemi]] peninsula by the sea, today's [[Kruununhaka]] district, where the [[Senate Square, Helsinki|Senate Square]] and [[Helsinki Cathedral]] are located.<ref name="matkaoppaat"/>

During the second half of the 17th century, Helsinki, as a wooden city, suffered from regular [[fire]]s, and by the beginning of the 18th century the population had fallen below 1,700. For a long time Helsinki was mainly a small administrative town for the governors of [[Nyland and Tavastehus County]], but its importance began to grow in the 18th century when plans were made to build a more solid naval defence in front of the city.<ref name="helsinki-history"/> Little came of these plans, however, as Helsinki remained a small town plagued by poverty, war and disease. The [[Great Northern War plague outbreak|plague]] of 1710 killed most of Helsinki's population.<ref name="Tabblo100" /> After the [[Battle of Helsinki (1713)|Russians captured]] Helsinki in May 1713 during the [[Great Northern War]], the retreating Swedish administration set fire to parts of the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://historia.hel.fi/fi/kaannekohdat/tuho-ja-jalleenrakennus/suuri-pohjan-sota-ja-helsingin-tuho|title=Suuri Pohjan sota ja Helsingin tuho|date=21 January 2022 |publisher=City of Helsinki|access-date=10 May 2023|language=fi}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Seppo|last=Aalto|title=Kruununkaupunki – Vironniemen Helsinki 1640–1721|publisher=[[Finnish Literature Society]]|location=Helsinki|year=2015|isbn=978-952-222-675-4|language=fi}}</ref> Despite this, the city's population grew to 3,000 by the beginning of the 19th century. The construction of the naval fortress of [[Suomenlinna|Sveaborg]] (''Viapori'' in Finnish, now also called ''Suomenlinna'') in the 18th century helped to improve Helsinki's status. However, it wasn't until Russia defeated Sweden in the [[Finnish War]] and annexed Finland as the autonomous [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] in 1809 that the city began to develop into a substantial city. The Russians besieged the Sveaborg fortress during the war, and about a quarter of the city was destroyed in a fire in 1808.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Niukkanen |first1=Marianna |last2=Heikkinen, Markku |title=Vuoden 1808 suurpalo |url=http://www.nba.fi/helsinginarkeologiaa/keskusta_kohteet_1810.htm |access-date=14 July 2013 |website=Kurkistuksia Helsingin kujille |publisher=National Board of Antiquities |language=fi |archive-date=14 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214210101/http://www.nba.fi/helsinginarkeologiaa/keskusta_kohteet_1810.htm }}</ref>

Emperor [[Alexander I of Russia]] moved the capital of Finland from [[Turku]] to Helsinki on 8 April 1812 to reduce Swedish influence in Finland and bring the capital closer to [[St Petersburg]].<ref>{{cite web |title=8 April 1812 Emperor Alexander I promotes Helsinki to the capital of the Grand Duchy. - Helsinki 200 years as capital |url=http://www.helsinki200.fi/en/helsinki-1812-2012/1812-emperor-alexander-i-promotes-helsinki-capital-grand-duchy/ |access-date=21 January 2016 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810032003/http://www.helsinki200.fi/en/helsinki-1812-2012/1812-emperor-alexander-i-promotes-helsinki-capital-grand-duchy/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://yle.fi/news/3-5486170|title=Bicentennial of Helsinki as Finnish capital|work=[[Yle News]]|date=8 April 2012|access-date=8 April 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/finland/finland-news/domestic/1978-lobbying-for-helsinki-200-years-ago-2.html|title=Lobbying for Helsinki 200 years ago|work=[[Helsinki Times]]|date=19 April 2012|access-date=8 April 2022}}</ref> After the [[Great Fire of Turku]] in 1827, the [[Royal Academy of Turku]], the only university in the country at the time, was also moved to Helsinki and eventually became the modern University of Helsinki. The move consolidated the city's new role and helped set it on a path of continuous growth. This transformation is most evident in the city centre, which was rebuilt in the [[neoclassicism|neoclassical]] style to resemble St. Petersburg, largely according to a plan by the German-born architect [[Carl Ludvig Engel|C. L. Engel]]. As elsewhere, technological advances such as the railway and [[industrialisation]] were key factors in the city's growth.