Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki – Our Review

Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki is built inside the bedrock and is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city. We visited the church and here is our review.

We spend all our summers in Finland and tour around the country as much as we can. One of the things we like to do on our road trips is visiting Finnish churches. Many of them are very pretty and they have so much history behind them. One of the most interesting one has been the Temppeliaukio Chruch (also known as the Rock Church) in Helsinki.

Temmpeliaukio Chuch is part of the Töölö Parish and belongs to Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland belongs to the Lutheran branch of Christianity. It is the national church in Finland as the majority of Finns are Lutherans.

I was born in Finland and raised as a Lutheran so I have seen many churches there. I must say that even though the Temppeliaukio Church is not very big, it is architecturally very special and interesting. I’m so glad we got to visit there and see it ourselves.

Construction of Temppeliaukio Church

The history of this church is quite interesting. Its rocky lot was reserved to be a spot for a church already in 1906. The actual construction started years later, and after three separate architect contests.

The first contest ended in 1933 with no resolution since the board didn’t like any of the suggested plans. In 1936 there was a new contest and the construction started in 1939 with quarrying the rock. However, it soon ended since Finland went into war with Russia. After the war ended they decided to give up the plan to build the church.

In 1961 the third architect competition was completed when the winner was announced as brothers Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen. Their plan was to quarry a church inside the bedrock.

The construction started and the church opened about a year and a half later in 1969. The original name for the church was Taivallahti Church but was later changed to Temppeliaukio Church.

Today the church is one of the most important architectural sites in Finland and one of the most popular places to visit in Helsinki among the tourists. Because of it’s excellent acoustics, it is also a very popular place for concerts.

Visiting Temppeliaukio Church

Temppeliaukio Church is located in Etu-Töölö. It is in a walking distance from the Parliament House and the National Museum of Finland. The closest tram stop is one street down along the Runeberginkatu. The tram that stops there is number 1T. We simply just walked there from our hotel.

Even though the Temppeliaukio Church was excavated into the bedrock the visitors are able to walk in from the street lever without any stairs. There are some stairs inside of the church but it is still stroller and wheelchair friendly.

People visiting the church will first notice the big dome ceiling made with copper. Some natural light will come from a rooftop window, and the altarpiece is actually a cracked rock from the ice age. The walls have been left as natural rugged rocks.

The church organ is designed by the same architects. It has 43 stops and 3001 pipes. It was built by Veikko Virtanen who has hand crafted over 150 church organs in Finland. He started building organs in 1951.

During our visit we noticed that there were a lot of international tourist and a lot of families walking around the church. Temppeliaukio Church is actually not that big so, a visit there does not take that long. But if you do go, don’t forget to also climb up to the balcony where you get the best view of the church!

When you visit, please be respectful and keep in mind that even though it might be a tourist attraction, it is also church and a special place for many! We saw so many people standing by the altar with their selfie sticks making different kinds of poses and being very loud. For the locals a church is a pious place where you walk and talk quietly.

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There is so much to see and do in Helsinki, but if you like visiting churches, another popular one to visit is the Helsinki Cathedral. Also the Kamppi Chapel, which is very fascinating as it made out of wood and shaped like an oval. It is located at Narinkka Square and was built as a part of theWorld Design Capital programme in 2012.

Also, if you are looking for place to stay in Helsinki, here is our list of the hotels we recommend. One of our favourite ones has been the Hotel Katajanokka which was built into an old prison. Also the art themed Hotel Ax has been one of the most unique hotels we have stayed.

🇫🇮 OUR FINLAND TRAVEL RESOURCES 🇫🇮

🚋 Visiting Helsinki? Check out our full guide, favorite hotels, and the best day trips nearby.
🎅 Heading to Lapland? Here’s everything on Santa Claus Village and SantaPark in Rovaniemi.
🗝 Hotels & Vacation Rentals: We usually find the best hotel deals here and also check this site.
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🚗 Car Rentals: We compare rental car prices on DiscoverCars to find the best deals worldwide.
🗺 Tours & Activities: We usually book tours through Viator or GetYourGuide.
Both have huge selections and easy cancellation.
🎟 Concerts & Events: We buy event tickets through Ticketmaster, one of the most reliable platforms.
✈️ Flights & Online Security: We use this VPN when searching for flights.
It can sometimes help finding better prices and also protects Wi-Fi when traveling.
📞 Travel eSIM & Data: For mobile data in Finland, we used Yesim and it worked well for that.
🩹 Travel Insurance: We always travel with insurance and use SafetyWing on our trips.