Helsinki - Church in the Rock

I had a bit of time in the morning, so I went for the Temppeliaukio Church or better known as Church in the Rock. This astonishing church was built in 1969 and right into the rock of this hill in Helsinki.

Yet it is still full of natural light which comes in from huge window panels under the copper dome.

copper dome from the outside

I came just in time for a piano concert in the church (well, actually I knew it already and therefore came in time):

Oliver Wu playing the piano in the Church in the Rock

A kind of flash mob school choir interrupted his performance:

And apart from loads of tourists buzzing around, a couple had his wedding photos shot:

Votive candles on the rocks :)

It was time to go to the conference registration which is not far from Helsinki Cathedral

The Porthania building of the University of Helsinki where part of the sessions will be:

Opening reception in the auditorium of the main building:

There was also some entertainment; Maija Kauhanen, a post-grad at the Department of Folk Music played on the kantele of Saarijärvi, a Finnish and Karelian zither. Since I only had my handy cam, the optical quality sucks, but you can at least hear the instrument. Maija has a web presence on myspace in case you want to see her more clearly :))

The day ended with a reception, lots of wine but also some snacks (at least salads for me) including the lovely Finnish rye-malt bread (Saaristolaisleipä), sweetened with molasses.