The Helsinki Cathedral was designed by the architect's favorite Russian tsar, Carl Ludvig Engel, as part of the reconstruction of Helsinki in the 19th century after a fire caused by being forcibly annexed by the Russians and destroyed much city??. The building was begun in 1830 and completed after Engel's death in 1852. The design of the cathedral is in the form of a Greek cross, much like a Russian Orthodox Church, although it is a Lutheran church. 93% of the Finnish population is Lutheran. The four small domes that may be now added to the original design after the death of Engel. The head of it was Ernst Lohrmann, who also added zinc statues of the twelve apostles on the roof and two side buildings, one of which is a bell tower, and the other is a chapel. Compared to the bright white on the outside of the Cathedral against a dark blue sky of summer, the interior looks rather austere and stark, with whitewashed walls and wooden benches, but is nevertheless attractive. It has capacity for 1,300 worshipers and has an altarpiece painted in the 1880s. The statues of angels flanking the altar and pulpit were designed by Engel. The best part is inside the crypt of gloomy atmosphere, renovated in the 1980s, which is now used as a coffee and held where exhibitions and concerts. Also performed other repairs to the Cathedral in late 1990 which returned to its original splendor. The Cathedral each year receives more than 350,000 visits.