By the 1600s, on the site of the Senate Square, there was already a town square, town hall and a church surrounded by a graveyard. The Ulrika Eleonora church was built on the square in 1727 and the main guardsroom in 1757. The so-called trivial school was located on the east side of the square. The square was the administrative centre and market place of the town.
     With its new status as capital, Helsinki implimented a new city plan. It was drafted by the chairman of the reconstruction committee, J.A.Ehrenström, and a German architect Carl Ludvig Engel. Citizens followed with consternation as the Ulrika Eleonora Church was torn

down and the graveyard cleared to make way for the square.
     When completed, the Senate Square was the biggest square in the Nordic region. Engel designed the University building, the Nicholas Church and the Senate palace around the square, with the University library, the Holy Trinity Church and the Russian military hospital on Unioninkatu street.
     The Senate square has served many purposes and interests. It has functioned as a ceremonial background for various parades, processions, demonstrations and performances as well as many public festivals and markets.