Turku information

Turku (Swedish:), said been founded in the 13th century. Turku is the oldest and fifth largest city in Finland, with a population of 175,354 (as of 2006). Located http://www.turku.fi/Public/default.aspx?nodeid=3981&culture=en-US&contentlan=2 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 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 yearhttp://www.turku.fi/Public/default.aspx?nodeid=3981&culture=en-US&contentlan=2.
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 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 thought being more loyal and closer to Russian Empire than Turku.
Turku also hosted the country's first university, The Royal Academy of Turku until it was transfered to new capital after the Great Fire of Turku, 1827. Its belongings are still in possession of University of Helsinki, excluding the material of its library, that burnt along with the Great Fire. (...) more....

Turku travel guide by