Helsinki in Frames - Kaivopuisto - The Spa - The Ursin swimming baths

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		Kaivopuisto The Spa The First Tourists The Ursin swimming baths
		Olga Forslund, watercolour, 1917. Promenading. Olga Forslund accompanied by a gallant in Ullanlinna. The couple walk along the Speranski street, which was later joined to Merikatu street. The Ursin swimming baths can be seen in the background.

Ursin's rock in Kaivopuisto, opposite Sirpalesaari ('Shard Island'), was a popular swimming spot in the nineteenth century. The rock was named after Nils Abraham af Ursin. In summertime, he was in the habit of swimming along this shoreline. Ursin was joined on his swimming jaunts by many of his sons' friends and other youth.

In 1887, the commercial councillor Julius Tallberg had a swimming baths constructed on the shore, and the swimming association, Helsingfors Simsällskap, soon put it to use. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the building was torn down and the city built a newer establishment slightly to the west of the earlier site, because the water there was cleaner. The Ursin swimming baths were finally demolished in 1934.