Pohjois-Haaga, Helsinki — Area Guide & Where to Stay

Pohjois-Haaga marks itself with quiet things. The Hakavuoren kirkko serves the district as its parish church, and the Pohjois-Haagan veljeshauta keeps a war grave for the local fallen. Public art turns up in the open.

The Näyttelijätär statue and the Valion ulkoilmaveistos stand among the streets and yards. East across the Hämeenlinna highway, light bridges carry walkers into the Central Park of Helsinki and on to the Pirkkola sport centre, so the district's real draw is the green and the playing fields just beyond its edge rather than any grand monument within.

Pohjois-Haaga took shape as Helsinki spread north-west. Built up with housing as the larger Haaga area filled in, the district settled along the line of the Hämeenlinna highway, with Etelä-Haaga to its south across parks and the road Metsäläntie, and Lassila to its west. The plan left green seams.

Walkways and bridges were laid to carry people over the highway into the Central Park and on toward Pirkkola, and the Pohjois-Haagan veljeshauta was set among the streets to remember those lost in the wars, fixing the district's wartime memory in stone.

Pohjois-Haaga lies in north-western Helsinki in southern Finland, bounded on the east by the Hämeenlinna highway, with Etelä-Haaga to the south across parks and Lassila to the west beyond the road Kaupintie.