Helsinki Railway Square

To the west side are the two ornate entrances to Helsinki Central station—a bigger one for public use, and a smaller one exclusively for the President of Finland and their official guests.

When the first station building was built in 1861, the site of the Helsinki Railway Square was still full of watery wasteland and meadows.

There have been numerous public events held at the pedestrian zone, such as a concert in support of asylum seekers in March 2017.

On the eastern side of the square is the Kameeli ("camel", modern spelling "Kameli") block which used to be bisected by the Kaisaniemenkatu street, whose northern facade facing the square is dominated by the Mikonkatu 19 building housing the Casino Helsinki and the Fennia House at Mikonkatu 17, which used to house the famous hotel Grand Hotel Fennia, the most luxurious hotel in Helsinki at the time.

The corner at Kaisaniemenkatu is dominated by the former Nokia head office Mikonlinna on the northern side and the former Osuuspankkitalo house at Mikonkatu 11-13 on the southern side as well as Mikonkatu 9 on the corner of Yliopistonkatu, which was originally built in 1929 as the head office of the Atlas Bank.

In the 1970s the space was converted into the computer room of the Helsingin Osakepankki bank and in 1990 to the apartment sales office of the construction company Haka.

The Asematunneli space underneath Kaivokatu houses several businesses, a connection to the Rautatientori metro station and underground pedestrian tunnels to the Forum shopping centre, the Sokos department store, the station building and to the City-Center (Makkaratalo) shopping centre.

The Helsinki Railway Square and the Finnish National Theatre in the early 20th century.
Market activity at th square in 1909.
On some winters the square has hosted an ice skating rink with an entry fee.
Business buildings on the eastern edge of the square, from the right to the left the Fennia House , the Casino Helsinki and the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel .