Sibelius Park

"Sibelius Park is situated on the grounds of three former villas named Bråvalla, Kinnekulle and Miramar. The area was designated as a residential area in the town plan of 1906 but changed to a recreational area in the revised town plan of 1916. Further revisions in 1929 allowed Mechelininkatu street to cut across the park. Known among locals as “Sibbari”, Sibelius Park is based an informal English-style landscape garden adapted to the typically Finnish shoreline environment. Construction of the park began in 1937 and lasted three years. The park was originally called Humallahden luonnonpuisto (Humallahti Nature Park) after the name of the adjacent bay. It was also referred to as Kinnekullan puisto (Kinnekulla Puisto) after the name of one of the former villas. The park was renamed in honour of legendary Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) in 1945 on his 80th birthday. City gardeners Emil Aranko and Bengt Schalin were responsible for the design of the park, which mainly entailed additional plantings. A pond and fountain were also built, and the shoreline was filled in to make it accessible to pedestrians. The birch grove in the park has been widely admired. Contrary to custom at the time, visitors were allowed to walk on the lawns, where lilies of the valley and daffodils were also planted. In this way the original natural landscape was developed into a popular landscape park bearing the name of Finland’s national composer."

"Neat waterfront park with a few cool sculptures. "