Smolna

Diagonally opposite the Historic House in Helsinki, at the corner of Fabianinkatu on the south side of the Esplanade (Eteläesplanadi), is a small palace designed by C. L. Engel (1824) which from 1832 to 1917 was the residence of the Russian Governor-General. It is now a state guest-house, but it is still popularly known as Smolna, having been the headquarters of the provisional revolutionary government in 1918, as was the Smolny Institute in Petrograd.

At the far end of the Esplanade (corner of Keskuskatu) is Scandinavia's largest bookshop, Akateeminen Kirjakauppa, the Academic Bookshop.