Helsinki is quite a green city with many parks and among it’s most popular ones is the Kaivopuisto around Ullanlinna hill (Ullanlinnanmäki). It is an old park, with the restaurant and nightclub Kaivohuone dating to 1830 and the small observatory on top of the hill to 1926. It is popular all year round with picnics and park-life in summer and sleighing and snow fights in winter. The height of Kaivopuisto’s popularity is still on the students day celebrations of Vappu on May the first. The whole park (of several hectares) will then become filled with the student’s picnics and flow with sparkling wine. During the summer there are also always at least several concerts and other events in the park.

The small neighborhood named after the park mostly consists of the old villas of the Russian nobility of the 1800’s. Many of these are now the residences of foreign ambassadors to Finland. It was also here that the Finnish statesman and war hero C. G. Mannerheim lived and his residence now houses The Mannerheim Museum

The neighborhood is also home to the city’s catholic cathedral, St. Henry’s Cathedral. The park and neighborhood belong to Ullanlinna district in southern Helsinki along with Eira, Kaartinkaupunki, Punavuori, Munkkisaari, the islands and Ullanlinna proper and as Kaivopuisto neighborhood is quite small many think it is, or think of it as, a part of Ullanlinna.