Following more than a year of restoration, Helsinki's most famous statue, Havis Amanda, returned to her original location at the city's Market Square on Wednesday morning.
Workers placed the statue, locally known as "Manta", in the central Helsinki fountain, removing barriers that were set up around the structure while the restoration work took place.
Restoration of the 116-year-old statue started in May 2023 at the Helsinki Art Museum (HAM).
The effort involved cleaning off layers of dirt, air pollution and lime scale that had accumulated over the last hundred years. Restorers also polished the blue-green patina layer and applied a protective coating.
Polina Semenova, a conservationist at the museum, said that moving forward, it would be good to perform annual maintenance on the statue. However, she added that another restoration project at this scale likely won't take place for another 50 years.
The conservation process has resulted in turning the statue a dark brown hue, in line with the sculptural style of the 19th and 20th centuries. The total cost of the conservation and casting work was around 90,000 euros.
Despite the restoration, Manta will still be unable to withstand people climbing on her.
Going forward, Manta will be enclosed in a protective cover during festivities like the ice hockey finals, when revellers have been known to clamber up the antique statue.
Havis Amanda is the centrepiece of an ornate fountain, which is adorned with four sea lions and water jets. A new fountain pool surface is already in place.
While Havis Amanda's restoration is complete, work on the sea lion statues and plumbing is set to continue until July.
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