Town Halls and Public Buildings to visit Helsinki

Built in 1763 for the merchant and magistrate Gustav Johan Bock, this is the oldest house in the district, and was restored to Engel's design in the early ^19th century. The building housed the town hall, was for a time the official residence of the Governor General (representative of Tsarist Russia), then a court of justice and a prison. Today, it houses the town's offices and ceremonial halls, as well as a number of small craft stores.