Former names Senaatintalo Completed 1822 Construction started 1818 | Type Governmental Address Snellmaninkatu 1 A Opened 1822 | |
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Similar Helsinki Senate Square, Sederholm House, House of the Estates, Helsinki Cathedral, University of Helsinki main buil | ||
The Government Palace in Helsinki (Finnish: Valtioneuvoston linna, Swedish: Statsrådsborgen), is the executive office building of the Government of Finland. It is located next to the Senate Square in central Helsinki.
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History
Work on building the Senate began in 1818. The Senate moved to the palace overlooking Senate Square in 1822. The wing on the Aleksanterinkatu side was completed in 1824 followed by the Ritarinkatu wing in 1828. The Hallituskatu side was not closed off until several decades later with a courtyard annex added in 1860 to house the Senate printing press. The Ritarikatu and Hallituskatu sides were later subsequently renovated and altered. The Government Palace acquired its present appearance between 1916 and 1917 with the heightening of the Ritarikatu wing.
In addition to the organs of the Senate itself, the Senate building was in the early years also home to a wide range of other important public agencies and offices, including the predecessor of the Bank of Finland, Postal Directorate, Customs Board and National Archives. The Imperial Alexander Pharmacy was also located in the Senate building before it moved to the building completed on the opposite side of Senate Square in 1832.
In 1904 Eugen Schauman shot Governor-General of Finland Nikolai Bobrikov in the stairway of the building.
Today
Today, the Government Palace houses the Prime Minister’s Office, the Office of the Chancellor of Justice and most departments of the Ministry of Finance.