Everything about Turku totally explained
Turku, in
Swedish Åbo () is the oldest and fifth largest
city in
Finland, with a population of 175 286 (31.12.2007). Located at the mouth of the
Aura river in the south west of the country, it's 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 populations in the country. Due to its location, the
Port of Turku is one of the busiest
seaports in Finland with around 3.7 million passengers per year
(External Link
).
Turku has a cultural identity as Finland's historical centre, as it was the largest city in the country for a very long time and has served as the
second city of the
Swedish Empire when Finland was under its rule. After being informally the capital of Finland for hundreds of years, Turku was also the capital of the
Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1812 after which time
Helsinki was made the capital, because Helsinki was considered being more loyal and closer to the
Russian Empire than Turku.
Turku also hosted the country's first university,
The Royal Academy of Turku until it was transferred to the new capital after the
Great Fire of Turku,
1827. Its belongings are still in the possession of the
University of Helsinki, excluding the material of its library, that burnt along with the Great Fire.
Turku is one of the leading cities of Finnish
Biotechnology and
Information and Communications Technology. A majority of Finnish medicine manufacturers and researchers operate in Turku.
Turku has been designated by the
European Union to be the
European Capital of Culture for the year 2011, together with
Tallinn, the capital of
Estonia.
History
Turku has a long history as Finland's largest city and administrative centre, but has, over the last two centuries, given up both titles to
Helsinki. To this day, the city's identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland and the country's former capital. Originally, the word "Finland" referred only to the area around Turku (hence the title, "
Finland Proper" for the region).
Although archaeological findings in the date back to the
Stone Age, Turku in its current location was born no earlier than the late 13th century. Its name originated from an
Old East Slavic word,
tǔrgǔ, meaning "market place". The
Cathedral of Turku was
consecrated in 1300, and together with
Turku Castle and the
Dominican monastery (founded in 1249), 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), covering the then eastern Sweden (most of the present-day Finland) until the 17th century, and the only city in Finland to trade with the
Hanseatic League. Even if Turku had no official capital status, both the
Dukes and
Governors-General of Finland usually had their Finnish residences there. In 1640, the first
university in Finland,
The Royal Academy of Turku, was founded in Turku. Turku was also the meeting place for the
States of Finland in 1676.
After the
Finnish War, which ended when
Sweden ceded Finland to
Imperial Russia at the
Treaty of Hamina in 1809, Turku became briefly the official capital, but soon lost the status to Helsinki, as
Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku was too far from Russia and too aligned with Sweden 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 them
Vladimir Putin, then Leningrad's deputy
mayor.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Turku displayed unprecedented rates of growth, resulting in the construction of many new densely-inhabited
suburbs such as
Varissuo and
Runosmäki, and the annexation of many neighbouring municipalities (for example
Maaria and
Paattinen). Many old quarters were completely destroyed in the process, replacing them with more efficient and faster-built concrete buildings. The city's growth has led to problems with
unemployment in the new populous suburbs on the one hand, and with the provision of public services (such as education) in more remote parts on the other.
Geography
Located at the mouth of the
Aura river in the southwestern corner of Finland, Turku covers an area of 245
km² (94 sq mi) of land, spread over both sides of the river. The eastern side, where the Cathedral of Turku is located, is popularly referred to as
täl pual jokke ("this side of the river"), while the western side is referred to as
tois pual jokke ("the other side of the river"). The city centre is located close to the river mouth, on both sides of the river, though development has recently been expanding westward.
There are nine bridges over the Aura river in Turku. The first bridge in the city area, known as
Pennisilta, was built in 1414, and has since been demolished. The oldest of the current bridges is
Auransilta, which was constructed in 1904. The newest bridge is
Teatterisilta ('theatre bridge'), a
pedestrian-only bridge built in 1997. One of the best-known landmarks of Turku is the
Föri, a small
ferry that transports pedestrians and
bicycles across the river without payment.
With a population of approximately 300,000, the
Turku Region (
LAU 1) is the third largest urban region in Finland, after
Greater Helsinki and the area around
Tampere. The region includes, in addition to the city itself the following municipalities:
Askainen,
Kaarina,
Lemu,
Lieto,
Masku,
Merimasku,
Mynämäki,
Naantali,
Nousiainen,
Paimio,
Piikkiö,
Raisio,
Rusko,
Rymättylä,
Sauvo,
Vahto, and
Velkua.
A more exclusive definition for the urban area is the
city region of Turku with a population around 235,000 consisting of four major municipalities Kaarina, Raisio, Naantali and Turku. The city region is the most urbanised in the Turku Region and it's complete when compared with the rest of the Turku region where urbanisation is concentrated in spots.
Subdivisions
The city is divided into 78
districts and nine
wards that don't function as local government units. There are, however, some projects that are based on the district divisions, particularly in the eastern part of the city, where unemployment is rife in certain areas. The largest populated districts are Varissuo and Runosmäki. By area, however,
Kakskerta and
Paattinen, formed from former municipalities that were annexed to the city proper in the mid-20th century, constitute the largest districts.
As many of the small neighbouring
municipalities from the north and south of the city were annexed during the mid-20th century, Turku is today shaped like an elongated
pear. The city centre and most of the suburban areas lie in the middle, separated from the less densely populated northern rural areas by the Turku
bypass, that forms part of
European route E18. Islands such as
Ruissalo,
Hirvensalo and Kakskerta, forming the southern part of the city, are also sparsely populated and mostly contain summer residences, with the exception of some districts in Hirvensalo which are currently growing into
upper-middle-class suburbs.
Climate
Situated by the
Baltic Sea and sheltered by the islands of the
Archipelago Sea, Turku has a
hemiboreal climate. Like much of southern Finland, the city experiences warm summers, with
temperatures ranging up to 30
°C (86
°F), and relatively cold winters with frequent
snowfall. The warmest month of the year is July, with an average temperature of 17 °C (62 °F), while the coldest is February. The average year-round temperature is 5 °C (41 °F). Winter usually starts in early December, and spring in late March.
Precipitation in Turku averages 633
mm (25
inches) a year. The rainiest month of the year is August, when the city receives on average 85 mm (3.4 inches) of rainfall. In March, the driest month of the year, the figure is only 29 mm (1.1 inches). The average
air pressure at sea level is 1012
millibars, with little variance throughout the year.
Operational since 1955, the city's
weather station is located at an altitude of 47
metres (154
feet) at
Turku Airport.
Climate in Turku in
2007:
Government and politics
Being both a
regional and
provincial capital, Turku is an important administrative centre, hosting the seat of the
Archbishop of Finland and a
Court of Appeal. Mikko Pukkinen, the former city manager of
Seinäjoki, has been the
city manager of Turku since 2006.
The
city council and city board have long been dominated by the
Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the
National Coalition Party (
Kokoomus), with approximately equal representation. Currently, the council has 67 members, with 19 from
Kokoomus and 18 from SDP. The other major parties in the council are the
Left Alliance (10 seats) and the
Green League (9). The current chair of the city board is
Pekka Ruola from
Kokoomus.
Olavi Mäenpää, chairman of the
far-right organisation
Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset (SKS) and a prominent figure in Turku's municipal politics, has provoked some controversy in the local media. In the last municipal elections in 2004, he received more votes than any other candidate in Turku, probably in large part due to
protest votes. SKS is, however, a marginal force in the city's administration, having only one seat in the council.
Transportation
For a city of its size, Turku has a moderate
public transportation network of
bus routes though it's not covering nothing but actual area inside city borders when actual
city region lacks
light rail or similar more efficient connections and is now heavily based on people using their own cars. the Bus network is managed and supervised by the
City of Turku Public Transport Office, and is operated mainly by private companies. All the major districts are served by buses every ten to fifteen minutes during the day, some even more frequently. Regional buses are operated by private companies, most importantly
TLO, with very frequent services especially to the neighbouring cities of Naantali, Raisio, and Kaarina.
Rail traffic to and from Turku is handled by the Finnish national carrier,
VR. As with most other Finnish cities, railways were an important method of transportation in the first half of the 20th century, but have since seen a sharp fall in popularity. As a result, the number of services has fallen and only the railways towards Tampere and Helsinki are now in use. The railway stations currently used for passenger traffic are the
Turku Central railway station in
Pohjola, and two smaller stations in
Kupittaa and the
Port of Turku.
There is no local rail traffic at the moment, as the city's popular
tram services were discontinued in 1972, and the various local railway lines to neighbouring towns and municipalities were all abolished during the late 20th century. However, there are plans for a
light rail line in the Turku region in the near future. This system would more ably serve major suburbs of the city such as Varissuo and Runosmäki, as well as the neighbouring cities.
Bus network used today has become highly uneconomical and the ticket prices has been raised repeatedly. Growing expenses and worsening traffic problems are main issues that have put trams back under consideration as well as more privileged bus lines. State of Finland has announced to support
Espoo with 30 % of full expenses on new metro rail, Turku is going to use this as an example in case it's going to build new light rail network.
Turku Airport is located eight kilometres to the north of the city centre, partly in the neighbouring municipality of
Rusko. From there are daily connections to
Stockholm,
Copenhagen,
Gdansk,
Mariehamn,
Helsinki and
Oulu.
There are also daily ferry services from the
Port of Turku to Sweden and
Åland, operated by
Silja Line,
Viking Line and
SeaWind Line. These are something of a Finnish cultural tradition (see
ruotsinlaiva), and people often travel long distances across Finland to Turku just to take a
cruise across the Gulf of Bothnia.
The
archipelago sea boat traffic is handled by
S/S Ukkopekka. Old
steamship cruise Turku-
Naantali-Turku.
Turku is the only city in Finland to have three long-distance railway stations:
Turku Central,
Port of Turku, and
Kupittaa. Even Helsinki has only two:
Helsinki Central and
Pasila.
People
At the end of 2004 the Turku region (including the
economic districts of Turku and Åboland) had a population of 319,632, out of which 174,824 people lived in the city of Turku. The city's population density is 718 inhabitants per square kilometre.
89.4 % of Turku's population speak Finnish as their
native language, while 5.2 % speak Swedish. The next most widely spoken languages are
Russian (1.3 %),
Arabic (0.6 %),
Albanian (0.5 %), and
Kurdish (0.4 %). 95.8 % of the population are
Finnish citizens, and the most sizeable minorities are from
Russia,
Estonia,
Iraq, and
Iran. Like all other Finnish cities, Turku doesn't collect information about the ethnic and religious makeup of its population.
Throughout its history, Turku has always welcomed new influences: it was through Turku that the Swedish crown entered what is today known as Finland. In the Middle Ages, it hosted German merchants, while engaging in trade with the Hanseatic League. Even today, the city has retained its tendency towards hospitality – it has a higher proportion of
immigrants than any other Finnish city. Recently, however, the increased numbers of immigrants, particularly in the city's eastern suburbs, has led to the outbreak of some
xenophobic sentiment (as shown by the growing support for the nationalist
Suomen Kansan Sinivalkoiset party), but ethnically motivated crimes are rare in Turku.
Famous people from the city of Turku include
Paavo Nurmi,
Mauno Koivisto,
Saku Koivu and the 18th century
botanist,
Herman Spöring. The Turku region has also brought forth many prominent personalities, including the
marshal,
Carl Gustaf Mannerheim.
Economy
Turku is the central economic hub of southwestern Finland, and the capital of the Turku
economic district. As of 2003, the district's
per capita income was €24,022, higher than the national average of €23,780.
Business district in The city's economy is centred around the Port of Turku and other service-oriented industries. 86 per cent of the city's
workforce are employed in the
services sector. The city is also a renowned
high-tech centre – the
Turku Science Park area in Kupittaa hosts over 300 companies from the fields of
biotechnology and
information technology, as well as several institutions of higher learning that work in closely with the business sector. One of the examples of high information technology in Turku area is
OpenSpark Finlands largest WiFi community which Turku also uses. This cooperative element is seen as a particularly important factor with regards to the city's expected future economic development, as outlined in the
Turku Strategy that's published annually by the city council. Turku, with its good transportation network and close proximity to the
Archipelago Sea, is also an important centre for tourism, frequently hosting various conventions and exhibitions.
As of 2007, the city's
unemployment rate is 8.8 %, one of the lowest amongst the ten biggest cities in Finland. The problem of unemployment is particularly troublesome in the districts of
Pansio,
Lauste, and Varissuo, where it hovers at around 16 %.
The city collects an 18 per cent
income tax (
council tax) from its inhabitants, in addition to the progressively graduated taxation practised by the Finnish state. The total amount received through council tax in 2004 was projected at €400 million, a reduction of 1.0 per cent from the previous year. Taxes collected from
corporations amounted to €39 million in 2004.
See also: Economy of Finland
Education
Turku has a longer educational history than any other Finnish city – the first school in the city, the
Cathedral School, was founded along with the Cathedral of Turku in the late 13th century. The first
university in Finland, the "
The Royal Academy of Turku" (now
University of Helsinki), was established in the city in 1640. In 1820, the first school in Finland, conforming to the
Bell-Lancaster method, was founded in Turku with the aim of making primary education more inclusive to the lower classes.
Nowadays, the
University of Turku is the second largest university in Finland (18,000 students), as measured by student enrolment, and one of the oldest as well, having been founded in 1920. Turku is also home to several other establishments of higher education, namely
Åbo Akademi, Finland's only Swedish-language university,
Turun kauppakorkeakoulu (
Turku School of Economics), and
Turun ammattikorkeakoulu (
Turku University of Applied Sciences) which is second largest
polytechnic in Finland after Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
The central hospital of Turku,
Turku University Hospital, is affiliated with the University and it's used as a teaching hospital.
Turku is one of only two cities in Finland to have an established
international school (the other city being Helsinki).
Turku International School, functioning in the eastern district of
Varissuo, has been operational since 2003.
Media
The most widely read
newspaper in Turku, and the area around it, is the daily regional morning newspaper
Turun Sanomat, with a readership of over 70 % of the population every day. The free-of-charge
Turkulainen newspaper is also among the most popular newspapers, together with the local edition of
Metro International and the national evening
tabloid Ilta-Sanomat. There are also a number of local newspapers such as
Kulmakunta (for the eastern suburbs of Turku, including Varissuo and Lauste), and
Rannikkoseutu (for the area around the neighbouring cities of Raisio and Naantali).
Åbo Underrättelser, a Swedish language newspaper published in Turku, is the oldest newspaper in Finland, having been published since 1824.
The newspaper,
Turun Sanomat, also operates a regional
television station, called
Turku TV. The Finnish national broadcaster,
Yleisradio, screens local news, daily from Monday to Friday, for the Southwest Finland (including the regions of
Finland Proper and
Satakunta) residents. All
Finnish national TV channels are viewable in the Turku area. In addition, a number of local
radio stations, eg
Auran Aallot and
Radio Sata are operational.
Culture
Cultural venues in Turku include several
theatres,
cinemas, and
art galleries, and a city philharmonic
orchestra. The city's cultural centre organises a number of regular events, most notably the
Medieval Market in July each year. Turku is also the official
Christmas city of Finland, and 'Christmas Peace' in Finland is declared on every
24 December at the
Cathedral of Turku. The
Turku Music Festival and the
rock festival Ruisrock (held on the island of
Ruissalo) are among the oldest of its kind in
Scandinavia. The city also hosts another rock festival,
Down by the Laituri, and one of the largest electronic music festivals in Northern Europe, UMF
(External Link) (Uuden Musiikin Festivaali, "New Music Festival"), in adition to a vibrant nightlife.
There are also numerous
museums, such as the Turku Art Museum and the
Wäinö Aaltonen Museum of Art. The Åbo Akademi University maintains the
Sibelius museum, which is the only museum in Finland specialising in the field of music. Apart from these, there are also several historical museums that display the city's medieval period, such as the
Turku Castle, which has been a functional historical museum since 1881, and the
Aboa Vetus museum, built in the late 1990s over the 14th century
archaeological site. The
Luostarinmäki handicrafts museum, converted from residential buildings that survived the
Great Fire of Turku in 1827, was the first
Scandinavian venue to receive the "Golden Apple" tourism award.
Turku is a candidate city for
European Capital of Culture in 2011, and the city council has approved numerous projects to boost the city's image in preparation for that status.
Declaration of Christmas Peace
The Declaration of Christmas Peace has been a tradition in Finland from the Middle Ages every year, except in 1939 due to the
Winter War. The declaration takes place on the Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official 'Christmas City', at noon on Christmas eve. It is broadcast in Finnish radio (since 1935) and television, and nowadays also in some foreign countries.
The declaration ceremony begins with the hymn
Jumala ompi linnamme (
Martin Luther's
Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott) and continues with the Declaration of Christmas Peace read from a
parchment roll in Finnish and Swedish:
"Tomorrow, God willing, is the graceful celebration of the birth of our Lord and Saviour; and thus is declared a peaceful Christmas time to all, by advising devotion and to behave otherwise quietly and peacefully, because he who breaks this peace and violates the peace of Christmas by any illegal or improper behaviour shall under aggravating circumstances be guilty and punished according to what the law and statutes prescribe for each and every offence separately. Finally, a joyous Christmas feast is wished to all inhabitants of the city."
Sports
Ice hockey is very popular in Turku even though not as culturally significant than in most Finnish cities. The local club
TPS(which is part of the same organisation as the football team) plays in the sport's top level in Finland, the
SM-liiga. It is based at
Turkuhalli to the southwest of the city centre. TPS has won the Finnish ice hockey championship ten times. The city's other major ice hockey team is
TuTo, which play at the country's second level. A new ice hockey arena was constructed for Tuto in the Kupittaa park in 2006.
Turku is the birthplace to a number of prominent
National Hockey League players including
Saku Koivu,
Mikko Koivu,
Miikka Kiprusoff,
Sami Salo,
Aki-Petteri Berg,
Petteri Nummelin and
Antero Niittymäki.
Football is nowadays the most popular sport in Turku. The city has two teams in the
Veikkausliiga:
FC Inter and
TPS. Both teams play their home matches at the modern
Veritas Stadion in the district of
Kupittaa. Every time these two home teams face each others the stadium is full of fans and tension. Kupittaa is probably the first place in Finland where Football has been played
(External Link).
The
Paavo Nurmi Marathon is an annual sporting event in Turku, named after the world-famous runner who was born and raised in the city.
Turku has also been the site of sporting history, as on June 21, 1954 it was in Turku where the Australian
John Landy became the second person to run the mile under four minutes.
- Gothenburg, Sweden, since 1946
- Aarhus, Denmark, since 1946
- Bergen, Norway, since 1946
- Saint Petersburg, Russia, since 1953
- Gdańsk, Poland, since 1958
- Rostock, Germany (at the time German Democratic Republic), since 1963
- Varna, Bulgaria, since 1963
- Constanţa, Romania, since 1963
- Cologne, Germany (at the time Federal Republic of Germany), since 1967
- Szeged, Hungary, since 1971
- Bratislava, Slovakia, since 1976
- Florence, Italy, since 1992
- Tianjin, China, since 2000
Also:
- Tartu, Estonia (co-operation agreement)
- Tallinn, Estonia (co-operation agreement)
- Kuressaare, Estonia (co-operation agreement)
Gallery
Image:Turku Castle medieval keep.jpg|The medieval keep of Turku Castle as seen from the harbour side.
Image:The Cathedral of Turku.jpg|The Cathedral of Turku is the most important church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.
Image:Turku Museum of Art.jpg|Turku Museum of Art is a classical example of Romantic nationalism in architecture.
Image:Turku orthodox church.jpg|Turku orthodox church stands next to the main Market Square.
Image:Turun rautatieasema.jpg|Turku Central railway station.
Image:Wäinö Aaltosen museo.jpg|Wäinö Aaltonen museum of Art.
Image:Municipal theatre of turku.jpg|Municipal Theatre of Turku.
Image:Svenskateater.JPG|Åbo Svenska Teater is the oldest theater in Finland.
Image:Mikaelinkirkko.jpg|Michael's church.
Image:Turku Jewish Synagogue.jpg|Turku Jewish Synagogue.
Image:Aurakatu Puolalanmäeltä nähtynä.jpg|Aurakatu.
Image:Suomen Joutsen 2005.jpg|Suomen Joutsen, a museum ship owned by City of Turku
Image:Stockmann Turku.jpg|The Turku branch of the Stockmann department store.
Image:Puolalanpuisto.jpg|Albatross building at Puolalanpuisto has been home to a number of artists for example Wäinö Aaltonen.
Image:Vartiovuori.jpg|Vartiovuorenmäki is a favourite hangout place for many.
Image:City office of Turku2.jpg|Preceding City office of Turku which will be renovated to upmarket apartments and street level business properties in future.
Image:View from samppalinna .jpg|View from Samppalinna hill to Vähä Häme street.
Image:World_trade_center_turku.jpg|World Trade Center Turku on Linnankatu street.
Image:Aura_river_in_Turku.JPG|Some apartment blocks alongside the Aura river in Turku.
Image:Martin_kirkko.jpg|Martin church.
Image:Random view Turku Kellonsoittajastreet.jpg|Random night view of Turku from Kellonsoittaja Street.
Image:Radisson Sas Turku.jpg|Radisson SAS hotel of Turku is located alongside of the Aura River.
Image:Puutori in Turku.jpg|Old marketplace in Turku and some old residential buildings and office buildings.
Image:Martti from crag.jpg|Myllyahde road leads in to the Mylly tunnel in Martti.
Further Information
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