Suomenlinna Church stands at the highest point of Iso Mustasaari island in the Suomenlinna sea fortress in Helsinki. Konstantin Thon, an official architect of Imperial Russia, designed it as a garrison church for Russian troops, and it was built in 1854. It was originally the Alexander Nevsky Church, with five onion domes. A bell cast in Moscow in 1885 weighs 6,683 kilograms, the largest in Finland.
It became a cathedral within Orthodoxy in 1891. In 1918 it was converted into an Evangelical Lutheran church, and the four smaller domes were removed. Einar Sjöström won the 1920s design competition for the renovation, and it was reconsecrated on April 28, 1929.
Since 1929 the central dome has doubled as a lighthouse, with a focal height of 54.2 meters. It is a popular wedding venue and a landmark for people arriving in Helsinki by sea.
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