Vaasa

Next destination, Vaasa. This city lays at the west coast of Finland. There are living about 68,000 people here of which 68% speaks Finnish as their first language, 23% speaks Swedish, and 9% speaks other languages as their first language. Vaasa has Finland's only UNESCO natural heritage site - Kvarken. The city was destroyed in 1852 because of fire and all the buildings were made out of wood. In 1862, the city was reconstructed 7 kilometers to the north and got the name Nikolainkaupunki, or Nikolaistad (image 3, first row), named after the Russian Tsar Nicholas I who was in power at that time. The city was built in an empire design style. Since 1917 the city is called Vaasa again. Vaasa was even the capital of Finland for a little while - from 29 January to 3 May 1918 - this was during the Finnish Civil War.

When I arrived, I assumed it was very small and I would get bored quickly - that's also the reason why I was here only 1 day for approximately 5 hours. However, it surprised me how aesthetic the city looked when I got out of the train and was walking to my Airbnb accommodation. I like wandering around and looking at the beautiful, detailed, designed buildings and Vaasa is a perfect city to do that. It was about -4, at least that was what the weather forecast indicated, but it felt like -12. During the day there was some kind of snow storm; a very strong wind and very much snow, but it was nothing compared to what I've experienced in Lapland, so it was very doable.

Ostrobothnian museum
The ostrobothnian museum was the only paid activity I did. The museum showed the history of Vaasa and an exhibitions of artist Jan-Erik Andersson from Turku, which was about war and fire. In the exhibition about Vaasa's history, I could see the different styles that were used over time. It explained what Vaasa looked like from 1600 until 2006. I could see the different styles that were implemented inside houses, how the city extended, and even ceramics from Holland. It was only 4,50 and worth it because now I know more about the city itself and how it was constructed. Some pictures below show you what I could see in the museum.

St Nicholas Church
The st Nicholas Church is an orthodox church that looks a lot like the orthodox church in Helsinki but smaller (image 1, third row). Unfortunately I couldn't get inside as they only open on specific dates to perform a mass. I walked around the church and I saw a very long queue for Covid-19 testing - yes these are the times now and I want to remember it when I read this in a few years. The St Nicholas Church is built in 1861 and opened its doors 9 September 1866 in the name of St. Nicholas the wonderworker. The church belongs to Oulu's pinpoint for the Finnish Orthodox Church and is connected to the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople.

Court House and seaside
When I walked from the train station, I saw this massive building which was the court house (image 1). Behind the court house was the seaside where the sign -heart- Vaasa is standing (image 2, second row). It was a beautiful park where you can walk by the sea, although it's frozen in the winter and you can't really see where the sea is. Many people were walking there, not that big, but very nice and calm place.

Vaasan Kirkko
The Vaasan Kirkko looked like a castle from afar (image 3, second row). It is big and detailed, also from the inside (images on next page). I love watching churches and wonder how people may have build it. It was beautifully coloured and everywhere I looked I saw some small detail. It is an Evangelical Lutheran Church, as most churches in Finland. It was built in 1869 by architect C. A. Setterberg in a neo-gothic style. Really nice! Across the church is the City Art Gallery (image 2, first row). Unfortunately I didn't make it in time but a great place to visit when I would come back. It is even for free.


Overall, a very nice city and I spend too little time there to see everything. But it is okay because I saw the main touristic things. I want to come to Finland in Summer time in the future and I will definitely add Vaasa to my list! The people here are different than in Helsinki I have to say - they look you in the eye and are more hospitable in my opinion. And as my dad said, it has something from our city Roermond.