The Sibelius Monument

Location

Helsinki
Finland
60° 10' 54.9408" N, 24° 54' 48.1176" E
FI
General info: 

The Sibelius Monument is dedicated to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865–1957), probably the most well known composer in Finland.
The core of Sibelius's oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies. In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius's best-known compositions include Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse triste, the Violin Concerto in D minor and The Swan of Tuonela . His works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded.

The monument was designed by Eila Hiltunen and unveiled on September 7, 1967. Originally it sparked a lively debate about the merits and flaws of abstract art, for which reason an effigy of Sibelius was included in the work. It consists of series of more than 600 hollow steel pipes welded together in a wave-like pattern. The purpose of the artist was to capture the essence of the music of Sibelius. The monument weighs 24 tonnes (24 LT; 26 ST) and measures 8.5 × 10.5 × 6.5 metres.

A smaller version of the monument is located at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. A work with a similar concept, also designed by Hiltunen, is located at the grounds of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Getting there: 

From the center of Helsinki, you can take tram 3T to the “Apollonkatu” stop and walk from there. Or you can take trams 4,7 or 10 to the “Kisahalli” stop and walk to the park along Sibeliuksenkatu.

Costs: 

The Sibelius park is free to all.

You might be interested in

It’s not a wonder why one of the world’s most picturesque tourist destinations Venice has been chosen as the setting for several Bond films.

In the film Moonraker Bond meets Dr. Holly Goodhead at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. As they travel down, Jaws stops the cables and takes the other cable car down to attack Bond.

Metéora consists of six monasteries, all built on sandstone rock pillars and it is one of the largest and most important monasteries in Greece. The monasteries are all built between the 14th and mid 16th century.

The spectacular opening of Goldeneye: James Bond jumps on a bungee cord along the wall of a giant dam. 7.5 seconds free fall, 220 altitude meters, parallel to the impressive dam.

After the biggest nuclear catastrophe the world has ever seen, the small city of Pripyat got a nickname ‘the ghost city’. Built in 1970 to serve as a home for Chernobyl nuclear plant workers, this city lived only for 16 years.

Mirny is a small town, with less than 40,000 citizens, but is one of the most famous in Russia. It is fairly remote town, surrounded with cold and wild Siberian forests.