Espoo

Espoo is the second biggest city in Finland, situated on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, just to the west of Helsinki.  In Espoo, there are offices of many Finnish and international companies, including parent organizations like  Nokia, Fortum, Neste, the Finnish Centre for Sociological and Media Research, the local branch of Microsoft, etc.

In the year 1458 in Espoo there were no more than a hundred villages, inhabited by about 1500 people. Many of the settlements on the coast of the Gulf of Finland were mostly founded by Swedish immigrants, who were engaged in trade and agriculture.

Today Espoo is divided into five urban centers: Tapiola, Matinkylä, Leppävaara, Espoonlahti and center of Espoo.
The famous Finnish architect designed a town of Tapiola in 1950. Today Tapiola is one of the most famous and busy districts in Espoo offering tourists a full range of services and activities. Here you can find at your service a great number of different stores, shopping centers, restaurants and hotels.

If we compare the uniqueness of cities, the city of Espoo is mostly distinguished by its naval character, its nature and high technology development. In a short time the city grew into the second-largest city of Finland with a population of 230,000 people.

Otaniemi is another Espoo district where the School of Engineering, National Technical Research Center, Technology Center,  Geological Research Center are located.

In Leppävaara tourists can visit a large shopping center “Cello”, as well as various cafes, banks and other places of interest.

Other attractions of the city worth mentioning are the Espoo Cultural Centre,  the gallery “Otso”, the house-museum of Finnish national artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela , Auto & Motor Racing Museum of Finland,  etc.

Photo credit to ristozz
Photo credit to wili_hybrid