Secret Helsinki

Far from the crowds and the usual clichés, Helsinki is filled with hidden treasures revealed only to residents and visitors who leave the beaten path. A dog that managed to catch 108 criminals without human help, a statue to a homeless alcoholic, the anti-aircraft defences where Tom of Finland became a war hero, a plaque in honour of somebody who never existed, swimming naked in the country's oldest swimming pool, the only church in the world that doubles as a lighthouse, a walk through the water to a secret island, a hidden Kalevala-scene fresco inside the Old Student House, a natural waterfall within the city, the location of Star Wars' Princess Leia's necklace, "Short Island' – the antithesis of New York's Long Island, a church turned nightclub turned church again, the only statue of a Russian tsar outside Russia ...