TURKU

Is a city on the southwest coast on Finland at the mouth of the Aura river. Turku covers an area of 245 square kilometres of  land, spread over both banks of the river.

The city is divided into 78 districts and nine wards that do not function as local government units.

Turku has a humid continental climate. The city experiences warm summers, with temperatures ranging up to

30°C and cold winters with frequent snowfall. The warmest month of the year is July and the coldest month is February. Winter usually starts in early December, and spring in late March.

The History of Turku.

Turku has a long history as Finland’s largest city and as the administrative center of the country, but for the last two hundred years has been surpassed by Helsinki.

The city’s identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland and the country’s first capital.

Because of its long history, it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced the Finnish history. Along with Tallin, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture in 2011.

In 1996, it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.

Turku Cathedral

Turku Cathedral is the Mother of the Evangelican Lutheran Curch of Finland.

The cathedral was built in the late 13th century, and was nominated the main cathedral of Finland in 1300.

It’s the central church of the Archdioceses of Turku and the seat of the Archbishop of Finland. It’s considered the most important religious building in Finland.

The cathedral is situated in the heart of Turku, next to the Old Great Square, by teh River Aura.

Road Indication Turku – Lieto:

• Car: faster way, regular traffic (10-18 minutes, 13 km);

Medium way  Hämeentie road (10-20 minutes, 15,2 km)

Longer way Jaanintie/Jahnvägen road (10-23 minutes, 17 km)

• Train: train station Turku/Jaanintie/Jahnvägen  (23 minutes)

Riihimäki  train station (8 minutes by feet)

Lahti train station (8 minutes by feet)

The Finnish Kitchen

The finnish kitchen is conditioned on its tradition by the rigid weather of the country that made hard to cultivate fuits and vegetables.

In Finland they eat a lot of fish, way more than meal. Milk, berries, hard rye bread, oat and barley are very important. 

Breakfast in Finland expect long coffee, cucumbers, cheese, rye bread, milky rise, cured meats, eggs, yogurt and oat soup. Breakfast can be both a quick snack and a past.

Finland citizens have dinner 5 p.m., and it is generous. They have mushroom soup or fish soup. During the second course goes with milk. Wine is very expensive.

Finnish favourite dish is of course fish, especially Persian fish, salmon and muikku (lake withefish).

Because of the weather, vegetables are coltivated  in greenhouses, except mushrooms that grow abundant, because of the rain during fall.

Traditional finnish food:

• Leipäjuusto (bread cheese);

• Piparkakku (gingerbread cookies);

• Mustikkapiirakka (blueberry pie);

• Korvasienimuhennos (mushroom stew);

• Kaalikääryleet (cabbage rolls);

And so on…

Finnish festival:

• May 1st , Vappu

• Christmas in Finland, Joulu

• June 20th – 26th , summer festival, Juhannus.

Vappu Festival (may 1st)

The First of May or “Vappu” is the finnish version of Labour Day that finnish people celebrate to honour the working people, but It’s also the biggest student festivity of the year, bringing together tens of thousands of students and other citizens of Turku.

On April 30th they gather at Turku Art Museum to listen to music and speeches and put on the student caps all at once.

On May 1st there is a pique-nique on Vartiovuorenmäki where they enjoy spring by listening to music, eating potato salad and drinking wine in the park.

The Christmas tree of Turku Cathedral

During Christmas, in Finland they built a Christmas tree on the Cathedral sqare.

The Christmas tree of Turku Cathedral has its roots deep in history.

The first spruce tree that was lit with electric lamps was brought to the place already in 1900. This tradition started in the 1930s.

The spruce of the country needs to meet certain requirements: it has to be 20–25 meters high, bushy, symmetrical, and beautifully green. The tree will stand its ground until the 13th of January.

Music Summer Festival

This festival lasts 6 days, from 20 to 26 of July.

This city festival offers a large variety of music for a wide variety of tastes in splendid concert.

The programme will include major orchestral concerts, chamber music, opera, recitals, jazz, world music and concerts for the whole family.

Performers will be leading Finnish and international artists.

Highlights

• Brinkkalan Outolintu

• Per Brahe Statue

• Harmonia

• Turku Art Museum

Brinkakalan Outolintu

Brinkkalan Outolintu is set in a beautiful and historical part of the town near the Aura River.

It’s a unique Finnish handicraft shop that offers textile products of different shapes and colours.

This lovely shop boasts an impressive collection of linen and wool garments, accessories, hand made scarves and ties, china, glass items and many more.

Per Brahe Statue

The Per Brahe statue is a monument of the general governor of Finland and first chancellor of the Academy of Turku. It was designed by Walter Runeberg and revealed in 1888.

The statue is made of bronze and stands 2.95 metres high, and the base is made of red granite, standing 4 metres high.

The base has the Swedish text “Iagh war med landett och landett med mig wääl tillfreds” (“I was satisfied with my country and my country satisfied with me”).

Harmonia

Located in the Aura River, Harmonia is an incredible fountain sculpture made by German sculptor Achim Kuhn.

The Harmonia is a great piece of art with six meters on the top part of the sculpture and a large number of plates of sophisticated steel “scales” that create this eye-catching, shiny colouring.

Harmonia sculpture that looks like a mermaid’s tail is a worthwhile city landmark thanks to its uniqueness and to the fact that it’s a cool place for taking lovely pictures of the Aura River.

Turku art museum

Was designed by Professor Gustaf Nyström and completed in 1904.

Has beautiful galleries, the floor were reserved for displaying the collection of the Turku Art Society.

The collection grew fast with new contemporary artworks and nowadays the museum manages one of the most comprehensive art collections in Finland.