The covered Wanha Kauppahalli market, located on the waterfront, next to the harbor on the South Shore, is an excellent place for gourmets and those who love good food. Built in 1889 to a design by the famous Finnish architect Carl Gustaf Nyström, it brought together several dozen retail outlets under one roof.
The range of products sold here is impressive, and most of them come from local producers. Plenty of seafood, confectionery, fruit, vegetables, game, meat products, and Lapland delicacies - all of this is presented in a calm and measured atmosphere, with no room for bustle and noise, as, for example, in Eastern bazaars. Private vendors, as a rule, have worked here for decades and pass their stalls from generation to generation. That is why little has changed over more than a century of the Old Market's history, except that the number of tourists wanting to try something interesting from authentic Finnish cuisine has grown.
In addition to shopping for food, you can pleasantly spend time over a cup of coffee or tea in a cozy cafe, or enjoy a tasty snack of one of the simple and hearty dishes of the national cuisine. The market also has shops with souvenirs and products by local artisans.
