Havis Amanda well

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The Havis Amanda Fountain is located in Helsinki's market square, called Kauppatori, which is right next to the harbour. The fountain, which was not well received by Finns when it was unveiled in 1908, is now a city landmark that everyone should visit on a trip to Helsinki.

Havis Amanda: The symbol of Helsinki

The focal point of the fountain is a bronze statue designed in the early 20th century by Ville Vallgren in the Art Nouveau style. It represents the daughter of the Baltic Sea rising from the sea and transforming into a human being.
Vallgren modelled the statue on the Parisian model Marcelle Delquini and gave her the name The Mermaid. In his eyes, she symbolizes the city of Helsinki and its creation. After initial protests about her lack of clothing, the city's residents also became friends with the statue and gave her the name Havis Amanda. She is often affectionately called Manta.

While the statue is cast in bronze, the rest of the fountain - which, by the way, was not designed by Vallgren - is made of granite. It includes four fish at the mermaid's feet that spew water into the lower area of the fountain, as well as four sea lions at the edge of the fountain basin.

The mermaid at the centre

The Havis Amanda fountain is the focal point of many celebrations. It is especially famous for its tradition on May Day, which is called Vappu in Finnish. If you travel to Helsinki at this time, you can see students washing the bronze statue before putting on a student cap.

But also outside this time, the Havis Amanda Fountain is a good place to visit on every trip to Helsinki. Due to its central location at the harbour, you can not only leave from there for one of the many city tours, but also explore the other nearby sights on foot. These include the SkyWheel Helsinki on the other side of Kauppatori Square, the Helsinki Museum, Senate Square and the Finnish National Gallery.

The Talking Statues

For those who want to get even closer to Manta or see Helsinki's sights in a slightly different way, it has been possible for a few years now to have statues like Havis Amanda speak for themselves: Currently, fifteen of them are tagged with a QR code that leads to more information about the statues and the people behind them. In addition to text, this includes images, as well as videos in which actors are supposed to make the statues and their stories more comprehensible.
In the case of Havi's Amanda, the Parisian woman who was Vallgren's model for the statue is embodied here. She talks about the sculptor, the creation of the statue and also its significance for Helsinki. She is played by Kari-Emmi Pohtokari. The videos are available in Finnish, Swedish and English.