The Garden of Death
Skeletons tenderly watering flowers.
Old Pionear — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brylie Christopher Oxley — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brylie Christopher Oxley — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Brylie Christopher Oxley — CC BY-SA 4.0
Finland's finest National Romantic church: Tampere Cathedral (1907) by the architect Lars Sonck is a fortress of grey granite under red roofs at the eastern edge of the centre — and the interior is the surprise: the symbolist murals of the painter Hugo Simberg that scandalised their day: "The Garden of Death" with skeletons watering flowers, a frieze of naked boys carrying the garland of life around the walls, and a winged serpent at the ceiling's peak. The altarpiece "Procession of the Wounded" by Magnus Enckell, the stained glass and the grey silence — a church read like a symbolist novel about life and death, unlike any other in the country. Ten minutes from the station, and a half-hour visit on a rainy day outdoes hours in a museum.
Skeletons tenderly watering flowers.
The frieze of boys around the walls.
At the ceiling's peak — sin or wisdom.
Tuomiokirkonkatu 3, Tampere
Vapriikki Museum CentreTen museums on one ticket: Vapriikki fills the old Tampella engineering works on6 minutes walk4.7
The Tampere Natural History MuseumTampere's natural history museum is part of the **Vapriikki Museum Centre** — a 7 minutes walk4.4
The Werstas Labour MuseumThe Finnish Labour Museum Werstas occupies an old Finlayson mill building on the7 minutes walk4.3
The Finlayson AreaThe factory that made the city: the Scot James Finlayson founded a cotton mill o8 minutes walk4.4
Tampere Old ChurchTampere Old Church is **the oldest building in the city centre**: a timber churc8 minutes walk4.3Skeletons, naked boys and a serpent in a Lutheran church in 1907 were called pagan, and removal of the serpent was demanded — all stayed, and today they are the city's pride.