Helsinki of Symbols - Guide to the secrets of the capital - Liisa Väisänen

A guide to the secrets of the capital.

If the walls could talk, what would they say? Helsinki and its buildings are full of messages from Väinämöinen in the Old Student House to the gargoyles in St. John's Church.

Liisa Väisänen, a symbol researcher familiar with building history, draws our attention to the shape of a bat at the end of the gutter and the seal of Melchizedek on the wall of the house. The city is full of symbols that migrated from distant cultures, knowing which gives depth to the urban environment.

The book's ten walking routes lead to different districts of Helsinki. The work highlights buildings with an interesting symbolic message and tells the stories behind them.

Liisa Väisänen (PhD) is a hardcore humanist, nonfiction writer and art researcher whose specialty is symbols. He is also known from Yle's TV series Merkkien Salat. Väisänen is from Helsinki, studied in France, Italy and Egypt and now lives in Malaga, Spain.