Published by Mobile-Kustannus Oy Brahenkatu 14 D 94 FI-20100 Turku, Finland
Member of Finnish Magazine Media Association (Aikakausmedia)
Publisher Teemu Jaakonkoski
Turku
Cover photos Turku Castle.
Photo: Mika Kurkilahti / City of Turku Market square.
Photo: Visit Turku Archipelago Fine dining in Turku.
Photo: Visit Turku Archipelago Dance performance.
Photo: Mama Creative Oy / City of Turku Marko Hautala.
Photo: Veikko Somerpuro / Tammi
Discover the Taste of Finnish Archipelago
Located by the Aura River in the heart of Turku, Restaurant OOBU offers a unique dining experience where tradition meets modern flavors.
Savor fresh seafood and locally sourced ingredients, from smoked salmon soup to lamb and fish dishes, all served in the elegant atmosphere of the historic Bassi House.
All our dishes are gluten and lactose free, crafted with care to ensure a delightful dining experience for everyone.
Whether you're looking for a relaxing lunch or an unforgettable dinner, OOBU is your gateway to the best of Finnish cuisine.
Opening Hours:
Lunch 11:00-14:30
Tuesday 11:00-22:00
Wednesday 11:00-22:00
Thursday 11:00-22:00
Friday 11:00-23:00
Saturday 12:00-23:00
Sunday & Monday closed
Book your table today and indulge in the flavors of the archipelago!
Läntinen Rantakatu 9 20100 Turku
www.oobu.fi info@oobu.fi
+358 (0)20 128 09 00
Secure your table at OOBU now—scan the QR code and reserve your spot for an unforgettable dining experience!
The (b)oldest city in Finland!
I am pleased to welcome you to Turku - the oldest and boldest city in Finland.
A
historic, yet innovative city
History is ever present in Turku. Yet new things are built in our city all the time. Our new, great Market Square is a good example of this. In addition to the market trade and local and fresh products, it also provides a relaxed venue for events and meetings in the heart of the city.
As a city, Turku is also an internationally recognised pioneer in climate matters. Our ambitious goal is to be a carbon-neutral city in 2029 when our city will celebrate its 800th anniversary. We will also enhance biodiversity and promote the circular economy with the aim of being a resource-wise and waste-free city by 2040.
Turku – a city of students and excellence
With a total of six universities and universities of applied sciences and their about 40,000 students, our city is guaranteed to be brimming with energy, intelligence, creativity and the ability to renew. All our universities are international. The unique status of Åbo Akademi, the only Swedish-speaking university in Finland, is a significant part of the identity of our bilingual city.
The success of Turku is also guaranteed by the long-term, regional cooperation between higher education institutions, companies and the city. This cooperation provides a strong starting point for business and innovation. We are an internationally renowned centre of expertise in fields such as bioeconomy, circular economy, pharmaceutical development and the maritime industry. As an international city of science and culture, we often serve as the stage for international congresses and encounters of experts in different fields.
Culture for all senses
Those interested in culture can visit plenty of interesting events in our city, such as concerts, theatre, fairs, art exhibitions and festivals all year round. We call our riverbank the Cultural Riverside because you
can find all forms of culture along the river. The city is an experience centre throughout the year.
Turku is also known for its high-quality and versatile food and café culture. A lunch made with local producers’ fresh ingredients or a Michelin-level dinner – our city has much to offer! The milieus in our eating and drinking places are also interesting – in Turku, you can eat on a riverboat, in a former prison or admire the city from a bird's-eye view from one of the city's many roof terraces. You should also visit a traditional market hall to taste local delicacies and specialities, at least the piispanmunkki doughnut!
A city where nature is always present
River Aurajoki is the heart and soul of Turku. That is why you can get to know Turku easily by walking or cycling along the riverbank. The path from the Cathedral to Turku Castle is teeming with history and life. Along the river, you can find beautiful landscapes, museums and art, as well as cosy and high-quality cafés and restaurants where you take a break from walking.
The sea and nature are also an integral part of Turku. You could say that this is the capital city of the world’s most beautiful archipelago. You can sense this maritime atmosphere already a few kilometres away from the city centre on Ruissalo Island, by the enchanting oak forests, pristine beaches, and winding nature trails.
AS A city, Turku is an attractive combination of history, modern urban culture, and maritime experiences. For me, however, Turku is above all a matter of heart. I hope it conquers your heart during your visit and makes you come back to our city again and again.
Minna Arve mAyor of turku
Turku Cathedral
❄ Finland’s only medieval cathedral and national shrine was consecrated in 1300 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary as well as to Saint Henry. When you visit this wonderful shrine, you step into Finland’s long history as a part of Sweden and later of the Russian Empire (1809–1917). The Roman Catholic era ended with a Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century. During Finland’s 107 years of independence the Evangelical Lutheran Church has been a folk church.
❄ Turku Cathedral is the central church of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku and the seat of the Lutheran Archbishop of Finland, Tapio Luoma.
❄ Guide booklets and QR code information about chapels and tombs.
❄ Open daily, 9 am– 6 pm.
Services in English
❄ Turku Cathedral International Congregation (TCIC), see Facebook group tcicmembers or www. turunseurakunnat.fi/international-congregation
❄ The Lutheran Church in Turku and Kaarina, see activities https://www.turunseurakunnat.fi/english
Winter in Turku Cathedral
Christmas Season
❄ Turku has a special atmosphere for Christmas. Before the season of Advent, the City’s huge Christmas tree is placed in front of the Cathedral. Its hundreds of lights are lit to bring joy to Turku city dwellers.
Ecumenical Christmas in Turku
❄ This wonderful ceremony with bishops, church leaders and glorious Christmas music will take place on Thursday, 12th Dec 6 pm in the Cathedral.
Timo Jakonen
Mikael Grönroos
Antti Partanen
Tracking the snow
In Finland, snow is such a commonplace thing that we seldom stop to think about what it really is.
IS tHere AnytHing more beautiful than dusk when the temperature is just below freezing and white snowflakes float down from the sky, sparkling like diamonds under the glowing street lights? Soon the ground is blanketed in white, and it’s so lovely that you almost want to eat it.
But is eating it a good idea? Ultimately, snow is water, after all, or more precisely, snow is ice crystals formed in the atmosphere that have fallen to earth. That can’t be very toxic, can it?
Snow scientist Sirpa Rasmus from the University of Lapland points out that even though snow looks clean, the crystals actually form around impurities, meaning microscopic bacteria or other particles floating in the atmosphere. Nevertheless, this doesn’t alarm the snow
scientist herself, and she would very well eat snow. At least sometimes:
“In general, it’s not a great idea to eat snow in cities because of exhaust fumes. If you do want to melt water for drinking, for example, on a hike, it’s best to dig down to the depth hoar, which is usually the cleanest.”
Many kinds of snow
Depth hoar is a particular type of snow – because snow is never just snow. Instead, snow always has distinct characteristics. Finns can list a dozen names for different types of snow off the top of their heads.
Written by roope Lipasti transLated by Christina saarinen
For example, suojalumi is the wet snow that’s good for making snowballs. It occurs when the temperature is above zero and the snow doesn’t melt right away, but does become wet. Conversely, pakkaslumi, dry snow, doesn’t stick together very well.
Tykkylumi is snow that accumulates in stunningly beautiful drifts on the branches of trees. There can be up to three tons of snow on a single spruce.
Loska, on the other hand, is halfway between snow and water. Hankikanto is a phenomenon that usually occurs in the spring, where the surface of the snowpack freezes and can be walked on as easily as walking on the street. And so on: a loved child has many names. Paradoxically, however, the international world of snow science operates in English, which can be difficult because there are not as many snow terms on offer in English. So words are borrowed from other languages as needed. For example, there’s no term in English for the season when roads are impassable due to melting snow and ice, so the Finnish rospuutto or Russian rasputitsa are used.
When snowflakes end up beneath the surface layer of snow, their crystal structure immediately starts to change, affecting factors such as the hardness and density of the snow. You can see this in practice by how easy or difficult the snow is to walk in.
It is a common belief that no two snowflakes are exactly alike. According to the snow scientist, this is not quite true:
“Or it kind of depends... If you look at them under a microscope, no two are the same because no two conditions of formation are exactly the same. But if we look at them with the naked eye, it’s easy to divide them into a few generic categories. It always depends on what the cloud where they originated was like.”
There is always at least enough snow that Finns are used to getting around in it, although we may curse the sheets of ice we have to cross to get to our cars.
Though there are countless different kinds of snow, distinguishing between snow and ice is easy enough:
“As long as there is airflow between the ice crystals, it’s snow. And when there isn’t, it’s ice. Of course, there can be air bubbles in ice, but they aren’t going anywhere until the ice melts,” Rasmus explains.
Some snow is born on the ground
About that depth hoar – it’s snow scientist Rasmus’s personal favorite type of snow, “because of how depth hoar is formed. It doesn’t fall from the sky – it’s born on the ground, inside the snowpack. It’s a useful snow for animals, too, though in the mountains, it’s a risk due to avalanches,” Rasmus says.
Depth hoar is also called sugar snow because of its sugary texture, and every child who has ever made a snow fort knows that you can’t make it stick: it slides down the walls to the bottom of your hole. That’s because the bonds between the crystals are not very strong. Forest animals, on the other hand, like sugar snow because it is easy to walk on.
Sugar snow is created as the snowpack lives and changes. It turns out that snowpack is very dynamic, though it might not look like it. There are a variety of temperatures in snowpack: it is warmer lower down than at the surface, which causes air movement, evaporation, and deposition, changing the shape of snow crystals.
“Depth hoar crystals are formed as a result of that movement. Instead of being star-shaped, they’re hollow pyramid-shaped cups, kind of like diamond pyramids,” Rasmus says. And since they aren’t the typical six-pointed crystals, they don’t stick together easily.
No two snowflakes alike?
The most common form of falling snow is indeed the six-pointed so-called stellar crystal. As they fall toward the ground, crystals stick together and form beautiful snowflakes.
Experts on slippery conditions
There are many reasons to study snow, but one of the oldest is the desire to be able to predict avalanches.
The amount of snow is also closely monitored:
“These days, it’s done with satellites, but it still takes traditional fieldwork to know what the snowpack is like. That way energy companies can predict the following spring’s water volumes, for example. Or animal researchers can predict mole populations. Snow information is also useful for reindeer husbandry,” Rasmus says.
Climate change can be seen in the snow as well. Winters are milder these days, resulting in periods of rain between freezing temperatures, causing the snow to freeze, melt, and freeze again. This creates ice layers in the snowpack, which makes it difficult for animals to survive. It’s also a risk for reindeer husbandry.
In the end, on a global scale, Finland is not an exceptionally snowy place. In California, for example, the snow depth record is no less than 12 meters, while Lapland’s record is a measly two meters.
But there is always at least enough snow that Finns are used to getting around in it, although we may curse the sheets of ice we have to cross to get to our cars. When it comes to the penguin walk – legs wide, center of gravity evenly over your feet, short waddling steps – Finns are highly skilled!
“We once had an Italian exchange student, and he was constantly falling in the snow. He simply hadn’t learned to walk in it. Only then did I understand that, for us Finns, it’s just what we grew up with. We’re used to slippery conditions,” Rasmus says.
P.S. One more tip for tourists: If the snow is yellow, you definitely don’t want to eat it! s
What can you do with snow?
Build forts, sculptures, shelters, lanterns, balls (for a snowball fight).
In the snow you can also:
Walk, sled, and cross-country or downhill ski – plus, of course, skate on the ice!
Poet Heli Laaksonen is known in Finland not only for her bright sense of humor, but also for her Western Finnish dialect, which she uses in both her speech and her writing. She is one of Finland’s best-selling poets and also a popular performer. Slightly less well-known is her love for Finnish nature, which has found its way into a couple of books, including her recent foray into English-language publishing.
The Nature of Finnish Nature takes a humorous approach to describing the basics of Finnish nature.
Actually, we have COVID-19 to thank for the book: the pandemic put a stop to Laaksonen’s poetry performances and gave her time to think about what to do next in life.
“A writer’s work always involves a certain amount of ongoing struggle with the profession, so I thought about what else I could do that would make people happy,” she says.
So Laaksonen studied to become a nature and environmental advisor. The first six months went quite well without writing, but in the spring semester, she experienced a relapse, and a book called Luonnos was born. Laaksonen herself describes it as a “literary nonfiction nature book.” And she continues with the same humorous take on nature in the recently released sequel, Jatkos.
“In school, we did traditional presentations. We got a reference book and found out about something we didn’t know the least about beforehand, like pygmy shrews. Nature books are really nice, and they contain a lot of information, but they can often be a bit dry, so I wondered if it would be possible to tell readers about these things in a fun, yet informative way.”
Heli Laaksonen is Finland’s only professional poet-naturalist
Nature, with a sense of humor
As it turns out, it is possible.
In Luonnos, Laaksonen discusses things like “The Sun,” “Bream” (a fish), and “Orpine” (a wildflower). The word luonnos has two meanings in Finnish: on the one hand, it means “in nature,” and on the other hand, “a sketch” or “a draft.” From this starting point, The Nature of Finnish Nature was born, which not only makes for a great souvenir, but also serves as a small and funny – not to mention poetic – information package for foreigners coming to Finland.
The world’s shortest nature trail
Nature has always been present to a certain extent in Laaksonen’s poems, so perhaps it was only natural that she would land on the profession of nature advisor. And it’s good that she did because her way of explaining things is not only entertaining, but also informative.
One of Laaksonen’s nature innovations is a six-meter-long nature trail. It has proven so popular, however, that she has expanded on the concept, and the trail is now seven meters long.
“So you had better put on your hiking boots,” she recommends. The nature trail itself prompts you to look closely and walk along it slowly.
“It’s fascinating to think that everything is something and belongs to the same system. For example, if I scrape my finger along a windowsill between the panes of glass, it’s easy to call the stuff there gunk, but actually, it’s made up of things like spider webs, birch seeds, and a couple of insect wings. If you scooped up a handful of earth the same way, you would find a thousand times more of everything. And all
Heli Laaksonen.
Written by roope Lipasti transLated by Christina saarinen
that stuff has a name too, which is amazing. Or if it doesn’t have a name, then that’s really amazing!”
Though the loss of nature is alarming in many places, in Finland as elsewhere, Laaksonen doesn’t want to be an end-times prophet:
“I don’t want to make people worry – I want to inspire a love for nature. So that in the decades to come, when you google the word ‘moss’, the first ten answers won’t be how to get rid of it, but instead about all its benefits.”
Blueberries and the flying squirrel
For The Nature of Finnish Nature, Laaksonen has chosen plants, animals, and natural phenomena that occur in Finland in particular.
“Some of them I did specifically for this book, since I thought they might be interesting for foreigners. Like light, for instance. In Finland, the light is awfully unruly: in the summer, it won’t go out, won’t go out... And then in the winter it won’t turn on, won’t turn on. The contrasts are huge.”
To find out which parts of the book were of particular interest to foreigners, Laaksonen asked a group of ten tourists to look at it and tell her what stood out to them.
One thing that made an impression was the ordinary blueberry. Or perhaps, more specifically, the idea that you can just pick them and eat them and make a blueberry pie, if you like! In other words, the fact that anyone in Finland can go into any forest and pick berries. It’s something that Laaksonen also finds appealing about Finnish nature:
“That you can sneak off into nature wherever you are. You can just go. You have permission. It has a Native feel to it, that no one can own the land. Of course, someone does own it, but anyone can go lean on the trees and smell them.”
In addition to blueberries, the tourists read about the northern lights and were fascinated by the flying squirrel:
“The flying squirrel is a Finnish oddity. It’s a creature that lives in the east and the north: it exists in Russia, but Finland is the westernmost place – they don’t have it in Sweden. And the flying squirrel is pretty amazing!”
Pigeons and elk
Of course, Finnish nature can also be found in the city, so nature guide Laaksonen also has tips for travelers who won’t have the chance to visit the real forest:
“In the city, I would take tourists to marvel at completely ordinary pigeons. There are tons of them. They’re fat and greasy and meaty-looking. They have funny, rosy-pink legs and lively eyes. When they walk, the chest comes first, and the rest of the pigeon follows. We would observe how they take an interest in us and then lose interest if there isn’t any food.
“After that, we would use a magnifying glass to look at tree trunks and their mosses and lichens. We would look for red sandspurry in the cracks in the pavement. It’s a small plant, a bit like dill, about the height of the first joint on your little finger. It’s cute and delicate and looks a little childish. We would get down on our knees to admire it, and the tourists would of course have good cameras, so we would get great pictures. If we were lucky, we might see a black-backed gull. A large part of the global population lives in Finland. It’s very endangered, even here, but you might see them anyway.”
Heli Laaksonen, if you were a plant, what plant would you be?
“To be completely honest, I would be a bindweed. It’s a weed of course, and people hate it, but it’s cute. It has flowers that look like a pink ballet skirt, and beautiful leaves that it uses to decorate everything. Something like a mugwort, for example, looks quite scraggly, but bindweed will wind around it and make it pretty.”
If you were an animal, what animal would you be?
“This might be a little boring, but I’d be a female bear. It sleeps from November to March, which I would be interested in as well. It’s got a pudgy shape, but it also has explosive power. The downside of being a female bear is that, because they’re so rare, every time you would go to wash in the morning, there would be a nature photographer ready to post the pictures on social media. I would want to know in advance, at least, so I would know to wash elegantly!”
In the forest, the nature guide would point out things like the rock formations known as roche moutonnée:
“They were formed during the Ice Age, when the mountains on top of them more or less took off, and all that was left was the root of the mountain, the root of the world. And of course, you can always hope to see an elk. A friend of mine held glasswork classes, and the French women who took the classes always wanted to make an elk. I’m not a bit surprised. It’s a wonderful animal – strange-looking, like it was crudely shaped with a Stone-Age mallet, quite different from, say, a graceful roe deer.” s
Heli Laaksonen: The Nature of Finnish Nature, 2024, Otava.
01 centro Hotel
Turku Times is available in these high standard Hotels
Yliopistonkatu 12, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 2 211 8100 www.centrohotel.com
02 forenom ApArtHotel turku
Kristiinankatu 9, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 20 198 3420 www.forenom.com
03 forenom premium ApArtmentS turku kAkolAnmäki
Michailowinkatu 1, 20100 Turku
Tel. 020 198 3420 www.forenom.com
04 HolidAy club cAribiA
Kongressikuja 1, 20540 Turku
Tel. +358 30 087 0900 www.holidayclubresorts.com
05 HoStel S/S bore
Linnankatu 72, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 40 843 6611 www.hostelbore.fi
06 Hotel AmAndiS
Nunnakatu 6, 21100 Naantali
Tel. +358 50 538 1956 www.amandis.fi
07 Hotel Helmi
Tuureporinkatu 11, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 20 786 2770 www.hotellihelmi.fi
08 Hotel kAkolA
Kakolankatu 14, 20100 Turku
Tel +358 2 515 0555 www.hotelkakola.fi
09 Hotel mArtinHovi
Martinkatu 6, 21200 Raisio
Tel. +358 2 438 2333 www.martinhovi.fi
10 Hotel pAlo
Luostarinkatu 12, 21100 Naantali
Tel. +358 2 4384 017 www.palo.fi
11 Hotel SeAport
Toinen poikkikatu 2, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 2 283 3000
www.hotelseaport.fi
12 originAl SokoS Hotel kupittAA
Joukahaisenkatu 6, 20520, Turku
Tel. +358 10 786 6000 www.sokoshotels.fi
13 originAl SokoS Hotel Wiklund
Eerikinkatu 11, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 10 786 5000
www.sokoshotels.fi
14 pArk Hotel
Rauhankatu 1, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 2 273 2555
www.parkhotelturku.fi
15 rAdiSSon blu
mArinA pAlAce Hotel
Linnankatu 32, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 20 123 4710
www.radissonblu.fi
16 ScAndic HAmburger börS
Kauppiaskatu 6, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 30 030 8420
www.scandichotels.fi
17 ScAndic JuliA
Eerikinkatu 4, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 30 030 8423
www.scandichotels.fi
18 ScAndic plAzA turku
Yliopistonkatu 29, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 30 030 8421
www.scandichotels.fi
19 Solo SokoS Hotel
turun SeurAHuone
Eerikinkatu 23, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 10 786 4000
www.sokoshotels.fi
20 tuure bed And breAkfASt
Tuureporinkatu 17, 20100 Turku
Tel. +358 2 233 0230
www.tuure.fi
Origin cuisine of Bangladeshi and Indian food “When you are Happy, then we are Happy”
Maariankatu 2c Turku Tel. +358 44 249 2996 shahicurrymahal@gmail.com shahicurrymahal.fi
Single ticket (valid for 2h)
Turku timeline
1229
The Pope orders the bishopric to be moved from Nousiainen to the new city of Turku. By the river Aura in Koroinen, there is a white memorial cross standing in the place where the Bishop’s little castle once was. It is a nice place to visit, as is the entire riverbank, where one can walk or go jogging.
1300
The Turku cathedral is inaugurated. It is the most beautiful cathedral in Finland. Not least because it is also the only proper cathedral in Finland.
1308
The first documented mention of the Turku Castle, although the construction probably began as early as the 1280s. Builders in Turku were in no hurry, as the castle wasn’t completed until 1588. The most magnificent Renaissance period in the history of Finland was seen in Turku castle during the reign of Catharina Jagiellon and Duke John (later king John III) 1562–1563.
1414
The first bridge over river Aura is built. It was called The Pennybridge.
1500
Turku is not quite a Hanseatic city, but almost. It is one of the major cities in Sweden and its international trade is significant.
1543
Mikael Agricola, the father of written Finnish, publishes his first book. It is also a milestone of Protestantism in Finland.
1634
The first map of Turku is published, and for a good reason, too: there were already 6,000 habitants, so the city was huge!
1640
The University of Turku is established. Nowadays, Turku is still a renowned city of higher education with more than 40,000 students studying at six universities.
1642
Finlands first printing house is established in Turku. It prints books, among them the thesis Aboa Vetus et Nova by Mr Daniel Juslenius (1676–1752), in which he studies the birth of Turku. His conclusion was that the people in Turku are decendants of Jaafet, the third son of Noah.
1812
Sweden loses Finland to Russia in 1809, and in 1812 Helsinki is declared as the new capital – something that still slightly upsets people in Turku.
1827
Turku burns down and almost the whole city must be built again, which is the reason why Turku doesn’t have a medieval centre anymore.
1900
The first Christmas tree illuminated with electric lamps is erected in front of the Cathedral. The tradition became regular in the 1930s.
1917
Finland declares independence.
1922
The University of Turku is established again, since the original Academy was moved to Helsinki after the great fire in 1827. Åbo Akademi University, the only university in Finland with Swedish as official language, was founded in 1918. (Åbo is the name of Turku in Swedish.)
1939–1945
Finland is at war with Russia. Turku suffers great damage during the bombings, among other buildings the castle is partly burned.
1956, 1976, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010. TPS, the biggest ice-hockey club in Turku, wins the Finnish championship.
1960–1980
Turku suffers from the so called “Turku sickness” – meaning that many beautiful old buildings were demolished in order to be replaced with modern blockhouses.
2011
Turku is the European Capital of Culture.
2024
Turku is the sixth largest city in Finland with 202,000 inhabitants. It also is one of the nicest cities and most popular holiday destinations in Finland, with its historical attractions and magnificent archipelago. s
Written by roope Lipasti
CHARMING CAFES IN THE MIDDLE OF TURKU
Welcome for a coffee or a light lunch, maybe for a glass of wine. Our selection includes fresh sweet and savory pastries, stuffed breads, pies and salads.
Nunnankatu 4
Next to the museum
Aboa Vetus Ars Nova on the riverbank. Café open Mon–Sun 10-17
EXHIBITION OPEN
September 1–April 21
Every Wednesday at 12–18
Turku Main Library, Linnankatu 2–4, library’s courtyard, visit from the riverbank. Café open Mon–Fri 9–20,Sat–Sun 11–17
Modern wooden pavilion at Turku Market Square, at the corner of Eerikinkatu and Kauppiaskatu. Café open Mon–Sat 9–20, Sun 10–20
Finland’s largest collection of MARITIME EXPERIENCES
See and feel real ships, exhibits and stories!
From historic tall ships to intricate scale models
From Children’s Maritime Museum to rugged warships
Linnankatu 72 20100 Turku
The Biological Museum charms visitors of all ages
Written by siiri JaakkoLa Curator, turku MuseuM Centre
Opened in 1907, the Biological Museum in Turku conceals a unique diorama exhibition of Finnish nature, not forgetting the beautiful architecture of the museum building. Today, visitors to the museum can learn more about nature and its diversity and experience the same timeless atmosphere as they did over a century ago.
The Biological Museum is located near the lush Turku Sports Park, just a stone's throw from the city centre. The charming museum is easily accessible thanks to its location and small size, and all exhibition content is in three languages: Finnish, Swedish and English. If you do not have the time to explore all of Finland on your visit, the Biological Museum gives you the opportunity to explore Finnish nature in all its forms, from the islets of the outer archipelago to the fells of Lapland.
pHoto: mArtti puHAkkA / muSeum centre of turku
Get familiar with Finnish nature
The permanent exhibition of the Biological Museum consists of 13 dioramas, representing not only Finland's different habitats with hundreds of animal species but also one of the key characteristics of Finnish nature: the four seasons. In the dioramas, stuffed animals are placed in their natural-like habitats, and the lighting and background paintings deepen the illusion of real natural landscapes by blending into the front of the diorama. In this way, each of them presents a specific moment in Finnish nature.
The oldest dioramas at the Biological Museum are original, so they have been part of the exhibition since the museum's opening in 1907. The original dioramas were created by the respected Swedish taxidermist and naturalist Gustaf Kolthoff (1845–1913). He had made a similar diorama exhibition for the Biological Museum in Stockholm a few years earlier. Kolthoff was assisted by his son Kjell Kolthoff (1871–1947), who also painted the backgrounds for the dioramas with oil colours.
Gustaf Kolthoff was a pioneer of diorama exhibitions in Europe. For him, dioramas represented animals and nature in a way that words could not. According to Kolthoff, biological museums were meant to educate and teach people about their local environment and nature. For example, the scenes chosen for the Biological Museum in Turku represented Finnish landscapes which most visitors would otherwise not have been able to see, such as the fells of Lapland and the outer archipelago.
Over the decades, some of the original dioramas of the Biological Museum have been dismantled and replaced by new ones made by local taxidermists. However, the efforts of the Kolthoff family are still visible at the museum.
Where it all started
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Turku developed quickly both in terms of business and social life as well as the cityscape. Large industrial plants emerged in the city divided by the river, the infrastructure developed rapidly, and the first cars appeared on the cobblestone
Visitors can now deepen their museum experience with multisensory content.
streets. The economic upturn enabled a new kind of urban culture to develop: leisure and culture became increasingly accessible to the working class, while steamships brought visitors from other parts of Europe to the city. At that time, it was common for the wealthy to support city development and projects with donations that served the city and its residents.
The story of the Biological Museum began in 1902, when the consular couple Alfred and Hélène Jacobsson donated funds to the city specifically for this purpose. The Jacobssons had come up with the idea while visiting and falling in love with the famous biological museum in Stockholm on their silver wedding anniversary. With the donation, they wanted to offer the people of Turku an opportunity to learn more about Finland's animals and nature through dioramas and to inspire museum visitors to get to know their home region. In addition to the Biological Museum, Turku Main Library and Turku Art Museum have been built with donations. You can learn more about the Jaconssons’ bourgeois life in the Ett Hem Museum near Turku Cathedral at Piispankatu 14.
Unique museum architecture
The unique architecture of the Biological Museum was designed by the Turku-based architect Alexander Nyström (1869–1926). A museum of natural history built around dioramas was unprecedented in Finland. For this purpose, Nyström designed a wooden building in the National Romantic style with large gable windows as the special feature. Through them, the dioramas could be illuminated with natural light.
The museum building was completed in 1906 on the bare, rocky slope of the Turku Sports Park and has served as a museum ever
since. The scenery around the Biological Museum has changed a lot over the decades, but the museum building itself has remained largely the same. It is the second-oldest building built as a museum in Turku after the Turku Art Museum.
Developing the museum while respecting the past
The Biological Museum is a place where the past of natural history museums and topical nature themes come together in an impressive way. Over the decades, the museum has gone through many reforms, the latest of which was completed in spring 2024.
In the reform, the dioramas remained unchanged, but visitors can now deepen their museum experience with multisensory content, ranging from smell and sound to physical interaction. For instance, the presentation of the Finnish archipelago is emphasized by the sounds of fish swimming in the coastal waters and the experience of a summer meadow by the buzzing of flies and the chirping of grasshoppers. One of the goals of multisensory points is to highlight groups of organisms that have previously received less attention, such as fish and insects.
All the museum reforms have been carried out with respect for its past. The wishes and interests of the visitors were also considered by adding information about the history of the museum to the exhibition. The exhibition now includes a section on the origins of the museum where you can stop for a moment to breathe in the atmosphere of the 20th century through old images and collections.
Another new feature is a fascinating audio guide that leads the visitor through the museum and Finnish landscapes. The 30-minute audio journey takes you through Finland’s outer archipelago to the fells of Lapland and immerses you not only in the history of the landscapes but also in their current state in Finnish nature. Through the dioramas, it is easy to grasp the changes that occur in various natural environments, both positive and negative. The popular audio guide is easily accessible and available for your device in Finnish, Swedish and English.
The museum yard and shop complete the package
With the latest reform, the Biological Museum wanted to reach beyond its walls in a new way. Since the museum is located in a nature-rich area between two lush city parks, the museum’s courtyard is also an ideal place for an interactive exhibition about its surroundings.
The outdoor exhibition presents the flora and fauna of the museum area, focusing on the diverse animals and plants that thrive in urban nature. In addition to urban nature, the exhibition revolves around interaction: many points give visitors the opportunity to learn by doing. In this way, the accessible exhibition wants to take into account the diversity of museum visitors. The renovated courtyard also has seats where you can rest your feet and admire the surrounding urban nature or the details of the beautiful old building.
And what would a museum be without a lovely shop? The museum shop has a versatile selection of nature-themed products and souvenirs: postcards, jewellery, decorative items and handicrafts, as well as toys, puzzles and various inspiring accessories for children's play with.
Welcome to explore the Finnish nature! s
Finnish gastronomy as a religious experience
Written
Finland is still the most Lutheran country in the world relative to its population. How are Lutheran ethics visible in Finnish food culture, past and present?
InLutheran – or more broadly, Protestant – ethics, work has intrinsic value and can even be seen as asceticism, in which the focus is industriousness, not happiness. Work is also seen as a way to keep people from sin and frivolous pleasures. According to defenders, this interpretation is too strict. Seppo Simola, the editor in chief of Kirkko ja kaupunki (Church and City) magazine, writes that the Lutheran work ethic has often been distorted and that “all kinds of problems have been blamed on it, from workaholism and the glaring flaws of capitalism, to the gloomy disposition of Finns and their vulnerability to suicide.” Simola states that, though Lutheranism values hard
by Matti MäkeLä transLated by Christina saarinen
work, “It is good to observe moderation in everything, including in work.” Bishop Jari Jolkkonen has also pointed out that already at the time of the Reformation, Calvinists were considered uptight drudges and Lutherans were mostly known for their princes “degraded by drunkenness.”
In any case, the difference between the Lutheran and Catholic worlds in terms of gastronomy can be summed up in two phrases: while an Italian might say, “Man does not eat to live, but lives to eat”, according to Martin Luther, “As the birds to flying, so is man born unto labor.” What better explanation do we need for one of the best cuisines in the world originating in Italy and not in Finland?
This differing approach is also evident in the fact that in Finland, breakfast is said to be the “most important meal of the day.” Every Italian (or Spaniard or Greek or…) knows that the most important meal of the day is dinner, when a person can linger over good food and wine and spend time with friends and family. The Finnish point of view makes sense only if you see food as a mere tool to keep you fit for working, with no value in and of itself. More proof of this attitude is the fact that in Finland, a person can say “food is just fuel for me” without incurring the ridicule and condescension of all decent people.
acquiring better seed. In the end, his hard work is rewarded, and Paavo and his family reap the best harvest of their life. However, Paavo’s unfortunate neighbor has lost his harvest to frost, so in a fit of fairness, Paavo shares a portion of his own harvest, and – despite his wife’s objections, which seem reasonable – they once again add pettu to their bread.
If hard work ever hasn’t been enough to keep people away from frivolous pleasures, the government has been happy to help. (After all, according to Luther, worldly power also comes from God.) Until 1995, restaurants had to seek a permit from Alko, the Finnish state-owned alcohol monopoly, one of whose principles was that there should not be too many restaurants relative to the number of residents. So if there was already a restaurant serving beer and sausage on the block, it was pointless to dream of getting sushi and sake anywhere nearby. Until 1969, establishing a restaurant in a rural area also required approval from the municipal council, which on top of everything else, would annually decide whether the restaurant could continue to operate.
Finland has taken huge steps in gastronomy in recent decades. Statistics show that there are around 10,000 restaurants in Finland, compared to only 1,500 in the 1960s and 2,700 in the early 1990s.
In the same way, a rather Finnish conversation starter was the view of nutritionist and TV personality Hanna Partanen, who claims that the easy availability of delicious food is the largest cause of Finns being overweight. “I meet people who are such good cooks that they can’t stop eating after just one plateful,” Partanen said with dismay in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat. As a solution, she suggested that people should intentionally start making inferior food at home. (If Partanen were Italian, her grandmother would cross herself in horror.)
In the interest of accuracy, it must also be said that the development or lack of development of Finnish gastronomy has been influenced not only by general morality, but also by the climate and poor availability of ingredients. This dire triad is described in national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg’s (1804–77) poem Paavo of Saarijärvi, whose title character – a hardworking and pious peasant – is Lutheran to the point of being infuriating. Frosts and hailstorms repeatedly take most of the harvest, and Paavo and his family have to add pettu (flour made from the inside layers of pine bark) to their bread to keep away the hunger that’s knocking at the door, or at least push it a little further off. Paavo never loses his faith in God, but he also doesn’t wait for a miracle, like Job of the Old Testament. Instead, he works tirelessly against the hostile conditions, draining and fertilizing the land and
In spite of everything, Finland has taken huge steps in gastronomy in recent decades. Statistics show that there are around 10,000 restaurants in Finland, compared to only 1,500 in the 1960s and 2,700 in the early 1990s. Today, Michelin-starred restaurants can be found not only in Helsinki, but also in Turku, Porvoo, and Ruka, where the world’s northernmost Michelin-starred restaurant is located. The number and quality of ethnic restaurants has also grown dramatically over the last 20 years, especially in the larger cities, as Finland has become more international. In addition, more and more people have taken up cooking as a hobby, which is evidenced by the fact that the most recent seasons of Master Chef Finland are no longer embarrassing to watch.
Still, if you’d like to enjoy a glass of wine with your Sunday lunch at home, you’ll have to remember to visit Alko on Saturday. Another option is to pick up a wine with a maximum ABV of 8 percent from a grocery store, which has been allowed since June 10, 2024 (the attractiveness of this idea is somewhat diminished by the fact that in an interview with the Finnish Broadcasting Company, a manufacturer who produces the wines in question for the Finnish market said he would never even dream of selling them in his home country of Spain). The low-proof wines also demonstrate the slow pace of Finnish deregulation, as 4.7 percent beer has been available in grocery stores since 1969. At the current rate, regular wines will arrive in Finnish stores at the beginning of the 2100s, and Finland’s favorite vodka, Koskenkorva, in 2495. s
Modern dish at Restaurant Nerå.
TURKU TIMES COLUMN
The most horrifying hotels
A horror writer’s idea of a comfortable hotel differs from the norm. A view onto a dilapidated courtyard is always nice. In the corridor, a buzzing and flickering bulb and photos of better days gone by are a welcome sight. Ghosts never hurt.
I WAS An adult when I spent my first night in a hotel, but my concept of them had already been formed in my early teens. I knew that at the Bates Motel, you have to lock the bathroom door, and that it was better not to go to the Overlook Hotel at all, at least not to be the winter caretaker.
My first real experiences were more mundane, of course. The closest I came to shivers of horror was as a young budget traveler in faraway lands, when my windowless room had a decorative border of rather thick mildew, or when an uninvited epicure helped itself to my bag of nuts at night – by all evidence, a rodent.
In the latter case, I informed reception that a mouse was visiting our room. The clerk corrected me: it wasn’t a mouse, but a rat. Apparently, it made the rounds in the hotel kitchen every night, too, so there was no reason to be concerned. Horror is a very culturally specific thing.
I will never forget another experience I had a few years ago. I got lost in the corridors of the Victorian seaside resort built by legendary horror writer Ramsey Campbell and his wife Jenny. There were no staff or other guests to be seen anywhere. The labyrinth went on for so long that I started to truly worry, but of course we did find our way back to civilization. And it was a good thing too, because the rundown hotel hardly needed any horror writers added to its selection of ghosts.
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about the worst kinds of surprises when staying in Finland. The hotels here are usually so uniformly clean and safe that you even find yourself starting to long for cracks in the ordinariness.
Fortunately for me, my wife, Tiina Hautala, collects ghost stories, and one of her books is specifically about hotels.
Hotel ghost stories have long been an unspoken part of Finnish folklore. The staff might tell stories to each other, often half-jokingly, but there was strict radio silence about the stories outside of hotels.
In Britain, for example, the situation has always been different. It’s hard to find a place to stay on the moors of Yorkshire without at least one anemic maiden or headless lord haunting it, and ghosts are even included in hotel descriptions.
As recently as ten years ago, ghost stories were seen as oddities in Finland, something that suited the no-nonsense Nordic culture about as well as cherubs would suit Alvar Aalto’s architecture.
These days, it seems people have realized that telling stories is a good thing, especially in the case of an older hotel, and certainly not a disadvantage.
I myself have not gotten to witness any hotel ghosts, despite serving as a wingman on my wife’s story-gathering trips. I’ve never woken up to a cold breath on my neck. I sleep like a baby in haunted rooms.
But of course, there is always that one exception.
It was an old, renowned hotel, whose management was very receptive to my wife’s topic of interest. The staff showed us around the building and offered us a suite to stay in, at a bargain price.
I have sometimes been amused by how ghost-hunting shows on TV make drama out of nothing. When the ghost fails to appear, the producers create a mood from people staring into night-vision cameras, telling viewers about their various “sensations.”
Live and learn, however. In the suite of the aforementioned hotel, I experienced very strong “sensations” as soon as I stepped over the threshold. I had an instinctive certainty that something was inexplicably wrong. I didn’t mention it to my wife, however, because it would have been pointless to activate our imaginations just before bed.
I had a horrible night, with disorienting nightmares, and I woke up again and again with the “sensation” that someone was moving around the room.
First thing in the morning, my wife told me how her night had gone. Apparently, it had been horrible. Disorienting nightmares. Constantly waking up. The feeling that someone was moving around the room.
As a matter of professional interest, we’ll have to book that suite again sometime. s
Marko Hautala is an award-winning horror writer whose novels and short stories have been translated into eight languages. His novelette “Pale Toes” was nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award in 2020.
Written by Marko hautaLa transLated by Christina saarinen
The absolute best fish and seafood lunch in town. You are warmly welcome.
Open mon-sat 11-15
Located in Turku Market hall. Eerikinkatu 16
Saaristo, the archipelago of Finland, is the most diverse archipelago in the world. Whether you’re after authentic nature, adventure, or relaxation, there’s always something new to discover –and it’s all just a stone’s throw away! Get inspired and find things to do at www.saaristo.fi
