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KNOWLEDGE OF Turku
Turku (Swedish: Åbo), founded in the 13th century, is the oldest and fifth largest city in Finland, with a population of 174,824 (as of 2004). Located at the mouth of the Aura river in the southwest of the country, it is the capital city of both the region of Finland Proper and the province of Western Finland, as well as being the centre of the country's third largest urban area, with around 300,000 inhabitants. Turku has one of the largest Finland-Swedish population in the country. The Finnish word for the inhabitants of Turku is turkulaiset (singular: turkulainen). Due to its location, the Port of Turku is one of the busiest seaports in Finland.
Turku has a cultural identity as Finland's historical centre, as it was the largest city in the country and served as its capital from its foundation in the 13th century to 1812. It also hosted the county's first university, the Academy of Åbo. The loss of all these titles to Helsinki in the early 19th century caused a long-standing rivalry between the two cities. Nowadays, Turku is considered Finland's 'second city' by some, while others assign the title to Tampere.
Turku has a long history as the country's largest city and administrative centre, but has, during the last two centuries, relegated those titles to Helsinki. The city also bears a strong identity as the oldest city in Finland, and as its former capital. Originally, the word 'Finland' referred only to the area around Turku (hence the title, 'Finland Proper' for the region).
Although archaelogical findings, dating back to the Stone Age, have been discovered, Turku did not become a significant location until the late 13th century. Its name originated from an old Russian word, tǔrgǔ, meaning "market place". The Cathedral of Turku was consecrated in 1300, and together with Turku Castle and the Dominican monastery (founded in 1229), the city became the most important location in medieval Finland.
During the Middle Ages, Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku (a title later upgraded to 'Archbishop of Turku'), and the only city in Finland to trade with the Hanseatic League. The population of the city was around six thousand, and in the 1620s, it became the residence of the Governor-General of Finland, thus affirming its status as the capital of Finland. In 1640, the first university in Finland, the Academy of Åbo, was founded in Turku.
After the Finnish War, which ended when Sweden ceded Finland to Imperial Russia at the Treaty of Hamina in 1809, the capital was changed from Turku to Helsinki, as Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too far from Russia to serve as the capital of the Grand Duchy. The change officially took place in 1812. The government offices that remained in Turku were finally moved to the new capital after the "Great Fire of Turku", which almost completely destroyed the city in 1827. After the fire, a new and safer city plan was drawn up by German architect Carl Ludvig Engel, who had also designed the new capital, Helsinki. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for another twenty years.
In 1918, a new university, the Åbo Akademi — the only Swedish-language university in Finland — was founded in Turku. Two years later, the Finnish-language University of Turku was founded alongside it. These two universities are the second and third to be founded in Finland.
20th-century Turku has been called "Finland's gateway to the West" by historians such as Jarmo Virmavirta. The city enjoyed good connections with other Western European countries and cities, especially since the 1940s with Stockholm across the Gulf of Bothnia. In the 1960s, Turku became the first Western city to sign a twinning agreement with Leningrad in the Soviet Union, leading to greater inter-cultural exchange and providing a new meaning to the city's 'gateway' function. After the fall of Communism in Russia, many prominent Soviets came to Turku to study Western business practices, among whom was Vladimir Putin, then Leningrad's deputy mayor .
Turku has a cultural identity as Finland's historical centre, as it was the largest city in the country and served as its capital from its foundation in the 13th century to 1812. It also hosted the county's first university, the Academy of Åbo. The loss of all these titles to Helsinki in the early 19th century caused a long-standing rivalry between the two cities. Nowadays, Turku is considered Finland's 'second city' by some, while others assign the title to Tampere.
Turku has a long history as the country's largest city and administrative centre, but has, during the last two centuries, relegated those titles to Helsinki. The city also bears a strong identity as the oldest city in Finland, and as its former capital. Originally, the word 'Finland' referred only to the area around Turku (hence the title, 'Finland Proper' for the region).
Although archaelogical findings, dating back to the Stone Age, have been discovered, Turku did not become a significant location until the late 13th century. Its name originated from an old Russian word, tǔrgǔ, meaning "market place". The Cathedral of Turku was consecrated in 1300, and together with Turku Castle and the Dominican monastery (founded in 1229), the city became the most important location in medieval Finland.
During the Middle Ages, Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku (a title later upgraded to 'Archbishop of Turku'), and the only city in Finland to trade with the Hanseatic League. The population of the city was around six thousand, and in the 1620s, it became the residence of the Governor-General of Finland, thus affirming its status as the capital of Finland. In 1640, the first university in Finland, the Academy of Åbo, was founded in Turku.
After the Finnish War, which ended when Sweden ceded Finland to Imperial Russia at the Treaty of Hamina in 1809, the capital was changed from Turku to Helsinki, as Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too far from Russia to serve as the capital of the Grand Duchy. The change officially took place in 1812. The government offices that remained in Turku were finally moved to the new capital after the "Great Fire of Turku", which almost completely destroyed the city in 1827. After the fire, a new and safer city plan was drawn up by German architect Carl Ludvig Engel, who had also designed the new capital, Helsinki. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for another twenty years.
In 1918, a new university, the Åbo Akademi — the only Swedish-language university in Finland — was founded in Turku. Two years later, the Finnish-language University of Turku was founded alongside it. These two universities are the second and third to be founded in Finland.
20th-century Turku has been called "Finland's gateway to the West" by historians such as Jarmo Virmavirta. The city enjoyed good connections with other Western European countries and cities, especially since the 1940s with Stockholm across the Gulf of Bothnia. In the 1960s, Turku became the first Western city to sign a twinning agreement with Leningrad in the Soviet Union, leading to greater inter-cultural exchange and providing a new meaning to the city's 'gateway' function. After the fall of Communism in Russia, many prominent Soviets came to Turku to study Western business practices, among whom was Vladimir Putin, then Leningrad's deputy mayor .
Chris