The church was originally built from 1830-1852 as a tribute to the Grand Duke of Finland, Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
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As mentioned, he contributed to the artistic decoration of Saint Isaac's Cathedral, St. Petersburg, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow, and Helsinki Cathedral, in present-day Finland, as well as churches outside the Russian empire - e.g. in Nice, France and Wiesbaden, present-day Germany.
In the scene where Iku-Turso climbs on top of the Helsinki Cathedral, the Finnish bum's quote "That's the second biggest frog I ever saw" is a reference to the spy parody show Get Smart.