Hakaniemi

[1] Hakaniemi is located at the sea shore and is separated from the city centre by the Siltavuorensalmi strait and from the district of Linjat by the street Hämeentie.

However, the cost of living has risen considerably in recent years and is now on par with that of the rest of central Helsinki.

The best-known features of Hakaniemi include a large and lively marketplace, Oriental food stores with a good variety of Asian imported products[2] the headquarters of several trade unions, the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party of Finland and the Left Alliance Party and the Helsinki Hilton hotel.

The sculpture World peace is located along this coastal street, near a pier offering boat connections to various Helsinki islands such as Vallisaari in the summertime.

Land reclamation in the strait separating Siltasaari from the mainland on its northern and eastern sides, containing the Hakaniemi area at the time, at the present location of the market square, started in 1886.

To stop reclaimed land from flowing into the sea, a dam was built from soil, rocks and spruce trunks.

The land reclamation took a total of eleven years, and market vendors started sales in the area on Christmas 1897.

In the late 19th century the city of Helsinki started rapidly industrialising and factories were built in the Sörnäinen area.

At the same time, increased rents in the city centre drove the working class further away, and Hakaniemi located on the opposite end of the Pitkäsilta bridge soon became a popular place to live in.

During the 1906 Sveaborg rebellion the so-called Hakaniemi riot took place at the market square, which has been seen as the first clash between the red and white guards in Finland.

[citation needed] The Finnish Civil War is thought to have started when a red lantern was hoisted on the top of the tower at the workers' house in the evening of 26 January 1918 as a sign of revolution.

[6]: 71  The southern sidetrack of the Sörnäinen harbour rail was used to transport firewood to the Hakaniemi market square, used to heat the houses in the area.

Hakaniemi's famous Ympyrätalo building
The Hakaniemi market hall is one of the three most important market halls in Helsinki. The other two are in the Market Square and in Hietalahti .
Hakaniemi seen from across the strait from the Siltavuori hill.
The street Siltasaarenkatu is a busy traffic route: there are many bus and tram stops near the Hakaniemi metro station . Hakaniemi is also a terminus of many bus lines to the neighbouring city of Vantaa . [ 5 ]
A view of Siltasaari from 1908. The John Stenberg workshop is at the front and the tower of the Helsinki workers' house is in the middle of the picture.
Traffic in front of the Hakaniemi market hall in 1966.