Turku Cathedral in Finland

Turku is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately 202,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 311,000. It is the 6th most populous municipality in Finland, and the third most populous urban area in the country after Helsinki and Tampere.

Turku is Finland's oldest city. It is not known when Turku was granted city status. Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town of Aboa in his Bulla in 1229, and this year is now used as the founding year of the city. Turku was the most important city in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden (today's Finland). After the Finnish War, Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809, and Turku became the capital of the Grand Duchy. However, Turku lost its status as capital only three years later in 1812, when Tsar Alexander I of Russia decided to move the capital to Helsinki. It was only after the last great fire in 1827 that most government institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the Royal Academy of Turku, founded in 1640, which later became the University of Helsinki, thus consolidating Helsinki's position as the new capital. Turku was Finland's most populous city until the late 1840s and remains the regional capital, an important business and cultural center, and a port.

Due to its long history, Turku has been the site of many important events and, as a former capital, has had a major influence on Finnish history. Together with Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, Turku has been named the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, the city of Turku was declared the "Christmas City" of Finland. Turku has also been officially declared the Food Capital of Finland, as it is home to some of Finland's oldest and highest quality restaurants, as well as a historically famous fish market held twice a year. Turku's canteen and café culture has often been compared to French food culture, which is why Turku is also known as the "Paris of Finland", hence the Swedish saying: "Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo!" ("Why Paris, we have Turku!").

Turku is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 81% Finnish speakers, 5% Swedish speakers, and 14% speakers of other languages, which is well above the national average.

Due to its location, the Port of Turku is an important commercial and passenger seaport, with over three million passengers traveling to Stockholm and Mariehamn each year.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku

Turku - Wikipedia

 

 

Turku is located about a two-hour drive west of the capital city of Helsinki.

 

 

I visited Turku on April 6th and did not plan my trip at all.
I guess my preconceived notions of it being one of Finland's oldest cities were too strong.
I thought I would get the old city feel everywhere, but I was wrong.

When I arrived in Turku, I searched Tripadvisor, and Turku Cathedral was listed in the top three attractions.

 

So I decided to make Turku Cathedral my first stop.

 

In fact, a lot of snow had fallen in southern Finland the day before. Luckily, the temperatures weren't too low, and most of the snow melted. This photo was taken on a revisit after visiting other places, so the snow had melted more than during my visit, and I could often see blue skies.

The search results for Turku Cathedral often include Turku Cathedral Museum, which is because some of the space within Turku Cathedral displays items related to the history of Turku Cathedral. (I didn't know this at the time, so I didn't see the museum area.)

The Turku Cathedral's webpage explains that

'Turku Cathedral is not a museum itself, but there is also a small museum in the church.
The Cathedral Museum is located on the second floor, on the southern lectern. There is a small entrance fee to the museum: 2€ / adult and 1€ / child. There are artifacts from the Cathedral's history on display in the museum.'

 

https://www.turuntuomiokirkko.fi/english

 

 

You don't need to make a reservation to visit Turku Cathedral. 

Now let's take a look at the interior of Turku Cathedral, minus the museum part.

 

 

This is the entrance that all visitors must go through.

 

In all the Finnish cathedrals I visited, there was always a model of a sailboat on display, and this one was no exception.
I was very curious about the significance of the sailboat, so I asked at the information desk, and the Turku Cathedral history book explained that

 

In 1968 the Turku Shipmasters Association donated a miniature of
a 19th-century whaling ship to Turku Cathedral.
The original ship was in fact called Turku.
Votive ships are common in coastal and archipelago churches, many having been donated 
by seamen who might have been 'in peril on the sea'.

 

 

 

 

 

I also recorded the interior of Turku Cathedral on video.
I don't know how to edit videos at all, so please understand that I didn't do any editing or add any music or anything in particular.

 

https://youtu.be/lI2gejZvXVU

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog and reading the article.

- Camera : Canon EOS-5D Mark IV
- Lens : Canon EF 16-35L / f2.8