Turku Travel Guide

164km (102 miles) W of Helsinki, 155km (96 miles) S of Tampere

If you have only one Finnish town to visit outside Helsinki, make it Turku. Finland's former capital is its oldest town (founded about 1229), with close ties to Sweden. Swedes affectionately call it Ã…bo, and perhaps regret its loss. A town with proud traditions, Turku was the former center of Finland's spiritual, secular, and commercial life until Russia made Helsinki the capital.

In the Middle Ages, trade and seafaring were the main occupations of the people of Turku. A university was founded in 1640, adding to the town's prestige. Tragedy struck on September 4, 1827, when Turku suffered the biggest fire ever to ravage a Scandinavian town. Following the fire, the Academy of Turku, the first university in Finland, was moved to Helsinki. But after Finland became independent, a Swedish-language university, Ã…bo Akademi, was founded in Turku, which thereby regained some of its lost prestige.

Turku makes an ideal gateway for visiting the Ã…land Islands, an archipelago in the Baltic, midway between Sweden and Finland. Many Swedes come to the Ã…lands for their summer vacations.

The islands are relatively autonomous; the inhabitants have their own parliament and government, their own flag and culture, and even their own postage stamps.

During the era of its world-famous shipowner Gustaf Erikson, Ã…land (pronounced Oh-lant) boasted the largest fleet of sailing ships in the world. Its traditions as a maritime "nation" are ancient.

On the western coast, at the confluence of three rivers, the seaport of Turku (Ã…bo in Swedish) is the oldest city in Finland and was once the most important city in the country; it was both an ecclesiastical center and a trade center. In addition to the cathedral, the city acquired a citadel in the late 13th century, making it a power player by the standards of the Middle Ages. Turku's cultural and financial power was assured when the king of Sweden, who then ruled over Finland, made Turku the seat of government and installed his representative here.

In the 17th century, an academy was established in Turku, and in 1808, Russia conquered Finland and moved its capital to Helsinki, which was closer to St. Petersburg and theoretically easier to administer. In 1827, a fire destroyed many of Turku's old wood buildings.

But Turku bounced back, becoming not only a major port and industrial city but also a university town, with both a Swedish and a Finnish Academy. It was rebuilt by Carl Ludvig Engel, who designed Helsinki, with stone-and-brick buildings, a grid plan, and wide streets.

The legendary long-distance runner, Paavo Nurmi (1897-1973), known as "The Flying Finn," was the most famous son of Turku. He won a total of nine gold and three silver medals in three different Olympics.