The Helsinki Cathedral (in Finnish Helsingin tuomiokirkko, Domkyrka Helsingfors in Swedish) is a cathedral Evangelical Lutheran located in the center of Helsinki, Finland. The church was built as a tribute to the Grand Duke, Nicholas I, Tsar of Russia and until the independence of Finland in 1917, was called St. Nicholas Church. It is a hallmark of the landscape of the city of Helsinki, the church that stands tall with its green dome surrounded by four smaller domes, is a neoclassical style and was built between 1830 and 1852. It was designed by Carl Engel, to complete the housing estate of Senate Square that Engel had diagrammed and which was surrounded by several buildings of his own. The building has a plant in the form of a Greek cross (ie a central hall surrounded by four arms of equal length) and is symmetrical in all four directions, each with its colonnade and pediment. Engel had intended to place a row of additional columns on the Western Front to mark the main entrance (opposite the main altar and is located on the eastern side), but this never materialized. The building was subsequently amended by Ernst Lohrmann who succeeded Engel, adding four small domes that further emphasize the similarity with the St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg, which served as a model for Helsinki. Lohrmann also built two independent towers and zinc statues of the Twelve Apostles in the edges and corners of the azotea.1 Today the cathedral is one of the most famous tourist attractions in Helsinki. Annually over 350,000 people visit the church, some to attend church services but most as tourists. The church is used for regular religious services, masses and weddings. The crypt was renovated in the 1980s by architects Vilhelm Helander and Juha Leiviskä to use as a space for exhibitions and church events. The cathedral is often used as a symbol of the city of Helsinki. Similarly, the Turku Castle Turku symbolizes, represents Tammerkoski Bridge Tampere and Rovaniemi Jätkänkynttilä represents. Before the construction of the cathedral, a smaller church called Church of Ulrika Eleanora was in place.