Malminkartano Hill also known as “Malminkartanonhuippu” in Finnish language offers a 360° panoramic view of Helsinki City at an altitude of 91 meters above the sea level.
This place being one of the beautiful spot to have a breathtaking view the city along with greenery as well as lakes, has in-fact really interesting history. You will be really surprised to know that this is not a natural hill and it used to be a landfill site(this included the construction and excavation waste such as sand , bricks and stones from building projects around Helsinki) during 1970s-1990s. A simple idea to create a controlled place to store this material during the rapid city expansion gave birth to Malminkartanonhuippu.
Gradually after couple of decades, instead of removing it the city decided to turn it to a recreational area shaping it with sloped sides and vegetation. As a result of evolution of environmental and urban planning perspective the hill was changed into a recreational site after building stairs (426 steps) and plantation of trees. Along with this trails for walking, biking and winter sports were also made.
Though this place is globally known as Malminkartano Hill in English but locals have different names like Tayttomaki (Filling Hill), Jatemaki(Waste Hill) and even Helsinki Alps(because of its height compared to flat surroundings). People love to go to this place for fitness training, art installation and to have a view at Helsinki dived in the rays of setting sun. One will get to see elderly people walking around the trails around this top during the morning as well as in the evening time.
So if you are around Helsinki, your travel will be incomplete without visit of Malminkartanonhuippu in your itinerary.