When it was built, it was one of the world's largest dry-docks and was compared to Gibraltar.This fortress, along with Finland's new semi-autonomous status as a Grand Duchy, allowed Helsinki to develop much more rapidly than it had during the medieval trading period.The city was completely destroyed by fire in the early 19th century and rebuilding followed the style of St. Petersburg.Russia invaded Finland during a period called "the Great Wrath" in the early eighteenth century, and Tsar Alexander I moved the capital of Finland farther east to Helsinki - to make it less susceptible to Swedish influence.Russia then defeated Sweden and occupied Helsinki, giving the Swedes reason to reinforce the coast with the Suomenlinna fortress. Its function at that point was to be a trading post in southern Finland and a competitor against Estonia's city of Tallinn, across the gulf of Finland.Growth was slow in the beginning but in time Helsinki's location came to be of strategic value, especially after Peter the Great moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. The name "Helsinki" is adapted from "Helsingford" which is a Swedish word made from the parish "Helsinge" and "ford" for the rapids running through it.The city of Helsinki officially dates to 1550AD when it was founded by King Gustav I of Sweden. It's located on the south coast of Finland along the Baltic Sea, out of which they pull herring to pickle and eat with delightful mustard sauces.It all began in 1155AD when Sweden made a crusade to Finland and brought it into the Swedish raelm. History and OverviewHelsinki is the capital of Finland and its largest city, weighing in at nearly 600,000 people.
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