The site of Narinkka originally held courtyard buildings of the
Turku barracks and an exercise field for the Russian military in the barracks. The Turku barracks was destroyed in the
Finnish Civil War in 1918, and the
Lasipalatsi building was built in its place. The financial building of the barracks remains, and it has hosted the central
bus station of Helsinki from 1935 to 2005, when the bus station was moved underground in connection to the Kamppi Center. The platforms for long-distance traffic were on a square between the bus station and Lasipalatsi, at the site of the current Narinkka square were the platforms for incoming traffic and platforms for buses to northern
Espoo and western
Vantaa. The former bus station building currently hosts restaurants and the
urban planning exhibition Laituri.
Former Narinkka Narinkka got its name from a market square located from 1876 to 1929 along Simonkatu, at the site of the current Scandic Hotel Simonkenttä, where the
Finnish Jews and
Finnish Russians sold used clothes. The name comes from the
Russian words "на рынке" (literally "at the market square"). There later was a terminus stop Simonkenttä fort buses travelling to
Haaga and
Konala. Because of steep height differences in the terrain, a cliff face separated it from the long-distance bus terminal at the site of the current Narinkka square. A hotel building stands in its place today. The name Narinkka is in use also as an annual book series published by the
Helsinki City Museum. ==References==