|
| |
|
TURKU |
| |
|
|
| |
TURKU was once the national capital but lost its status in 1812 and
most of its buildings in a ferocious fire in 1827. These days it's a
small and highly sociable city, bristling with history and culture and
with a sparkling nightlife, thanks to the boom years under Swedish rule
and the students from its two universities. Many of its Swedish-speaking
contingent still consider Åbo - the Swedish name for Turku - the real
capital and Helsinki just an upstart.
The City
To get to grips with Turku and its pivotal place in Finnish history, cut
through the centre to the river. This tree-framed space was, before the
great fire of 1827, the bustling heart of the community, and is
overlooked by Turku's cathedral or Tuomiokirkko (9am-7pm daily except
during services; free guided tours in English available), which was
erected in the thirteenth century and is still the centre of the Finnish
Church. Despite repeated fires, a number of features survive, notably
the deliriously ornate seventeenth-century tomb of Torsten Stålhandske,
commander of the Finnish cavalry during the Thirty Years' War. On top of
a small hill near the cathedral, you'll see the wooden dome of the Engel
Observatory , which currently houses the Turku Art Museum (Tues-Sat
10am-4pm, Thurs closes 7pm, Sun 11am-6pm; ¬5-8 according to the
exhibition) while its usual home, a granite Art Nouveau structure close
to the train station, is being renovated. The museum contains one of the
better collections of Finnish art, with works by all the great names of
the country's golden age plus a commendable stock of moderns. Steps away
on the bank of the Aurajoki river is Turku's newest and most splendid
museum, the combined Aboa Vetus and Ars Nova (May-Aug daily 11am-7pm,
Sept-April Thurs-Sun 11am-7pm, July-Aug daily guided tours in English at
2.30pm; ¬6 or ¬9 including tour). Digging the foundations of the modern
art gallery revealed a warren of medieval lanes which are now on view
beneath the glass floor of the building. The gallery itself comprises
350 striking works plus temporary exhibitions, and there's a great café
too.
Just north of the cathedral is the sleek low form of the Sibelius Museum
(Tues-Sun 11am-4pm, Wed 6-8pm; ¬3), which - although Sibelius had no
direct connection with Turku - displays family photo albums and original
manuscripts, the great man's hat, walking stick and even his final half-smoked
cigar, alongside exhibits covering the musical history of the country.
There is also a concert hall where you can listen to recorded requests.
South of here, the engrossing Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum on
Vartiovuorenkatu (mid-April to mid-Sept 10am-6pm; rest of the year Tues-Sun
10am-3pm; ¬2.50; guided tours in English, with demonstrations, from June
to Aug) is one of the best and most authentic open-air museums in
Finland, and as true a record of old Turku as exists. The wooden houses
here were built by local working people in traditional style and they
became a museum as descendants of the original owners died and the town
bought them up.
A short walk away, on the southern bank of the river Itäinen Rantakatu
38, is another worthwhile indoor collection: the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum (Tues-Sun
11am-7pm; ¬4, more for special exhibitions), devoted to the best-known
modern Finnish sculptor, who grew up close to Turku and studied at the
local art school. Aaltonen dominated his field throughout the 1920s and
1930s, and his influence is still felt today; his imaginative and
sensitive work turns up in every major Finnish town. Crossing back over
Aurajoki and down Linnankatu and then towards the mouth of the river
will bring you to Turku Castle (mid-April to mid-Sept daily 10am-6pm;
rest of the year Tues-Sun 10am-3pm; ¬3.75). The featureless exterior
conceals a maze of cobbled courtyards, corridors and staircases, with a
bewildering array of intriguing finds and displays. The castle probably
went up around 1280; the seat of government for centuries, its gradual
expansion accounts for the patchwork architecture.
|
| |
|
