Turku Times 2/2023 by Mobile-Kustannus Oy

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MAGAZI NE FOR VISITORS

IN THIS ISSUE The happiest people in the world Page 10

Eating Finland Page 14

exhibition at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova

Early medieval splendour comes to life Page 25

Hero and/or Villain Page 30

A column by Antti Tuomainen

please leave this magazine for the next guest – thank you!

I miss you, Madame

Gold diggers welcome. We are here to help you succeed. If you strive to grow your business, you are in the right place. Business Turku supports companies’ growth, development and journey to the world. Science, business, investments, ambition and thrive all united.

→ www.businessturku.com

meal

Lifestyle store in Turku center. We have many traditional quality brands for men and women. Come and visit our shop at the center of Turku Myymme laadukkaita klassikkomerkkien vaatteita. Tervetuloa tutustumaan myymäläämme kävelykadulla.

Kapteenska

www.kapteenska.fi

Tampere-Helsinki-Turku Yliopistonkatu 24 050-3734583

Local goods and second hand treasures. The Good Stuﬀ. Follow us on

ecolocalmarket

MON-FRI 11-18, sat 11-16 www.ecolocalmarket.fi

Next to the market square | Linnankatu 9-11 | FORUM. kortteli | Turku

CONTENTS The (b)oldest city in Finland! 8 The happiest people in the world 10 Eating Finland 14 Winter swimming is for everyone 16 Maps of Turku & Ruissalo Island 18 Hotels providing Turku Times 20 Turku timeline 22 Early medieval splendour comes to life 25 Hero and/or Villain 30 I miss you, Madame – Column by Antti Tuomainen 32

Turku Times Magazine for Visitors Issue 2/2023 Autumn-Winter-Spring www.turkutimes.fi ISSN 2342-2823 (print) ISSN 2669-8285 (online)

Editor in chief Roope Lipasti

Published by Mobile-Kustannus Oy Brahenkatu 14 D 94 FI-20100 Turku, Finland

Sales Pirkko Puurunen pirkko.puurunen@aikalehdet.fi Tel. +358 40 507 1002

Sales manager Raimo Kurki raimo.kurki@aikalehdet.fi Tel. +358 45 656 7216

Graphic design & layout Petteri Mero Mainostoimisto Knok Oy

Cover photos Turku Cathedral. Photo: Rami Saarikorpi / City of Turku River side. Photo: Vesa Lehto / City of Turku

Printed by Newprint Oy

Christmas celebration. Photo: Mama Creative / City of Turku River Aura. Photo: Rami Saarikorpi / City of Turku Antti Tuomainen. Photo: Jonne Räsänen / Otava

Publisher Teemu Jaakonkoski

4041 1018

Turku Times map application for mobile phones and tablets: www.turkutimes.fi. The magazine is available in hotel rooms in the city of Turku (see page 20). Next issue will be out in April 2024. 6

AUTHENTIC INDIAN CUISINE IN TURKU

INTIAN HELMI BAR & GRILL Intian Helmi brings you the finest Indian cuisine With over 15 years of experience come and indulge in our authentic Indian dishes. Freshly prepared food using traditional techniques, a clay oven to lock in those flavours and the blends of different sauces that are famous all around the world and can be experienced right here.

Brahenkatu 14, 20100, Turku +358 41 318 6460

Time flies and the city of Turku changes its shape, but one thing remains: The Original Dennis Italian Restaurant! Address

Opening hours

Linnankatu 17 20100 Turku

Mon–thu .. 11–22.00 Fri ............. 11–23.00 Sat ............ 12–23.00 Sun ........... 13–21.00 Welcome!

Reservations: tfn. +358 2 527 8000 www.dennis.fi

Italian Food and Atmosphere – Since 1975 –

photo: Suvi elo

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

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!

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-positive 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.

A city where nature is always present

Turku – a city of students and excellence

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. For the bold, it provides the opportunity to swim even in autumn and winter.

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.

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.

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

Minna Arve Mayor of Turku 8

Mikael Grönroos

Winter in Turku Cathedral

The Roman Catholic era ended with a Protestant Reformation in the 16th Century. During Finland’s 106 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.

Ecumenical Christmas in Turku This wonderful ceremony with bishops, church leaders and glorious Christmas music will take place on Thursday, 14th Dec at 6 pm in Turku Cathedral.

Michael’s Church

Finland’s only medieval cathedral and national shrine was consecrated in 1300. Guide books and QR code information. Open daily, 9 am–6 pm. The Sunday Service at 10 am in Finnish and at 12 pm in Swedish. English services every Sunday at 4 pm.

Michael's church, Puistokatu 16, is a distinguished example of the neogothic style in architecture. This magnificent and popular church is worth a visit. Open hours Wed–Fri 11 am–5 pm and Sat–Sun 11 am–2 pm.

See more: https://turunseurakunnat.fi/english

Timo Jakonen | Layout: Erkki Kiiski

Timo Jakonen

Turku Cathedral

Eeva-Kaisa Ahlamo

➤ 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. 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).

photo: Terri Vahtera / Visit Turku

Written by Roope Lipasti Translated by Christina Saarinen

Enjoying the views in Ruissalo Island.

The happiest people in the world Finland has been named the happiest country in the world six times in a row. How can that be?

very year, the World Happiness Report is released, which asks citizens of different countries to rate their lives on a scale of zero to ten. Respondents are asked things like how many times they laughed or felt joy the previous day. They are also asked whether they experienced negative emotions, such as worry, sadness or anger. In addition, the report evaluates the countries where people live. The metrics include standard of living, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and corruption. Even Finland has room for improvement, however, falling short of a 10 with its score of 7.8, while Denmark came in second with 7.6. The other Nordic countries were in the top ten too. Less surprisingly, the unhappiest countries are Afghanistan and Lebanon. But if you ask Finns what it feels like to live in the happiest country in the world, they will probably laugh and suggest you try

measuring happiness in November, when it’s always dark, and if it isn’t raining, it’s sleeting or hailing. And yet the study can’t be wrong year after year, can it? All the basics in order Happiness researcher Ilona Suojanen thinks that the reason Finns laugh when asked about the report is perhaps our self-deprecating sense of humor. Besides, the laughter has died down as the same result has been announced year after year, which has also forced us to reflect on the matter: “Maybe we haven’t always thought of happiness as the foundation of well-being. Perhaps instead it brought to mind big, outwardly visible things, like laughing a lot. But so many things in Finland 10

really are so good that respondents were probably forced to choose the higher end of the scale.” Suojanen also reminds us that when Swedes joke that Finns do so well in the happiness survey because we’re satisfied with so little, there is a touch of truth in that too. The welfare state and general prosperity are very young phenomena in Finland. Maybe that’s where our modesty comes from. “Today, in any case, things are pretty good in most people’s everyday lives. People are healthy, have those who are important to them nearby, have a roof over their heads and a steady income. These basic things are probably precisely what many respondents are thinking about. Of course, you could just as well think that you’ll only be happy when you have three cars and this and that. But in Finland, we don’t usually think like that,” Suojanen says. She tells a story about a Finnish startup company: “It was sold and the owners became very rich. But in their own words, they already had everything, and they didn’t know what to do with the money, so they started a foundation that gives money to all kinds of good causes. It’s a story that somehow captures Finnish happiness.”

Happiness researcher Ilona Suojanen, there is a saying “Each man is the maker of his own happiness.” Is that true? “No, it isn’t. In a welfare state, we help each other in that work. When we support each other, it also increases our own happiness. Few people are happy alone. I highly recommend taking up the role of helper.” What about the Finnish expression “Let he who is happy hide his happiness”? “It probably comes from the old-fashioned idea that happiness is like a cake that gets cut into pieces, and if someone is really happy, he has helped himself to other people’s share. But happiness is not a zero-sum game. It increases when we share it.”

The World’s Happiest Countries 2023: 1. Finland 2. Denmark 3. Iceland 4. Israel 5. Netherlands

Happiness is other people

6. Sweden 7. Norway 8. Switzerland 9. Luxembourg 10. New Zealand

But even if the basic requirements for happiness are in order – so that, for example, a person wouldn’t move to Afghanistan to escape a bad situation, but rather head to Finland – happiness does not necessarily follow. Happiness is linked to many factors, including genetics: some of us are happier from the get-go. Of course, the cards you are dealt at birth matter too. “Nevertheless, we know that some things easily lead to unhappiness, like perfectionism and, a lot of times, competitiveness. Similarly, if you want to be happy, it’s worth investing in human relationships. That isn’t always easy, of course, but that’s where happiness comes from,” Suojanen says.

So, what creates happiness, even if it’s the modest sort? There are very different views and definitions of happiness, and happiness is influenced by so many things that it’s difficult to get a handle on. In her recent study, Ilona Suojanen allowed people to define their own happiness: “I asked them to take pictures of things and of moments when they were happy. The study in question was related to people’s working lives, but the results were consistent with other happiness studies. For one, the pictures of happy moments featured other people, something that always comes up in these studies: good and lasting human relationships,” Suojanen says. Another thing was meaningfulness: “In the context of this study, it was the meaningfulness of one’s work, but meaning can likewise arise from one’s hobbies or volunteer work.” The third important topic that emerged was nature. (In fact, the happiness researcher herself was at her summer cottage at the time of this very interview.) “Nature is something that is especially important to Finns. That they can see it from their window or on their way to work. It’s about belonging to the world around you.” The fourth thing reflected in the pictures of happiness was autonomy, that people were able to affect their own life and work. In other words, the freedom to realize oneself.

A joint effort Though it’s generally countries with a welfare mindset – that is, where we happily pay taxes so that everyone can be better off – that rise to the top in happiness studies, there are a couple of exceptions, and they demonstrate the importance of human relationships. The Central American countries of Mexico and Costa Rica have fared quite well in happiness surveys, despite the fact that Mexico, for one, is rather unstable, at least according to Finnish newspaper reports. “The reason for those countries’ happiness is human networks, communities that give support. There, the individual is not so important. Instead, it’s the surrounding community,” Suojanen says. Could it be that in Finland, the state plays the role of the supportive community? After all, in Finland, a significant amount of care has been outsourced to the state. “That’s true, but recently people have started to question the idea that once we’ve paid our taxes, we don’t have to do anything more. Because it’s the taking care of each other that creates happiness. In Finland, we’re happy to pay money to get ourselves out of working together on various things, but it isn’t worth it, because helping other people increases happiness more than things like money,” Suojanen concludes. s

Security, freedom and trust Ilona Suojanen says that in the bigger picture, an important bedrock of Finnish happiness is trust – in other people, the media, decision-makers and public authorities. This in turn gives rise to another requirement for happiness, a sense of security. “Security – like trust and freedom – is seen as self-evident in Finland. They are so taken for granted that we rarely even stop to think about how much they affect happiness as well. They also make Finland attractive to people coming from elsewhere.” 11

• MUSEUM CITY TURKU

The Princess’s Journey Have you ever wondered what everyday life was like for a real princess many years ago? Then take a journey with Princess Catherine Jagiellon and find out! The Princess’s Journey will whisk you into the world of the 16th century Polish princess who became queen of Sweden. Guided Tours turku.fi/en/turkucastle

MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU •

Opening Hours Tue–Sun 10am–6pm, 5 June–3 Sep Mon–Sun 10am–6pm Läntinen Rantakatu 13b, tel. +358 2262 0280, luostarinmaki@turku.fi

Opening Hours Tue–Sun 10am–6pm Linnankatu 80, tel. +358 2262 0300, turunlinna@turku.fi

WAM Turku City Art Museum Lux & Umbra until 14 Jan The exhibition presents the diversity and very high quality of Finnish light art. The exhibition showcases the production of six media artists and groups of artists that use light and shadow in their work. Iiu Susiraja 2 Feb – 12 May The WAM exhibition will feature both new works and earlier production. In addition to photographs, the exhibition will feature Susiraja’s videos, installations, drawings and 3D printed sculptures into which the artist has expanded her artistic repertoire in recent years.

Christmas Time at museums

– The museums are filled with the spirit and smells of the season as well as Christmas traditions

Opening Hours Tue–Sun 10am–6pm Itäinen Rantakatu 38, tel. +358 2262 0850, wam@turku.fi, turku.fi/en/wam

The Pharmacy Museum and the Qwensel House • The Christmas Table Settings 1 December – 7 January The exhibition presents the Christmas traditions of a gentry family at the turn of the 18th century. Christmas delicacies have been set out in the hall and in the chambers, and the house is filled with Christmas cheer. Luostarinmäki Museum Quarter • Christmas Table Settings and Traditions 1 December – 7 January Christmas has come to the kitchens and bedchambers of Luostarinmäki. How did the inhabitants of Luostarinmäki spend Christmas? What was eaten at different times and how were homes decorated? Kylämäki Village of Living History • Christmas in the Old Days 6–17 December Christmas preparations are in full swing in this rural village. The matron of Iso-Kohmo is busy at the stove, and the kitchen is filled with the enticing aromas of gingerbread cookies, traditional rutabaga casserole and lutefisk. For more information turku.fi/en/museum

Turku City Museums | turku.fi/en/museum MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU

MUSEUM CITY TURKU

Guided Tours turku.fi/en/pharmacymuseum

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MUSEUM CITY TURKU

The stately Turku Castle has guarded the mouth of the Aura River since the late 13th century. The tall granite walls conceal unique moments from history within them. Over the course of its history, the castle has been defended and besieged, its governors changed and during Duke John’s era, the castle became a stage for court life. The medieval rooms of the keep and the ballrooms built by Duke John allow visitors to experience the splendour and bleakness of times past.

Pharmacy Museum and the Qwensel House The Qwensel House is the oldest remaining wooden building in Turku, featuring a bourgeois home from the 18th century and a pharmacy from the 19th century under one roof. At the Qwensel House, you can explore the life of the family of the most famous resident of the house, Joseph Pipping, the father of Finnish surgery. The interior is decorated in the Rococo and Gustavian styles of the late 18th century. The Pharmacy Museum’s pharmacy shop houses the oldest remaining pharmacy interior in Finland, dating back to 1858.

Turku Castle

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MUSEUM CITY TURKU

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MUSEUM CITY TURKU

MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU • MUSEUM CITY TURKU •

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photo: Aarne Pietinen/ Helsinki City Museum

Helsinki in 1937. Restaurant Savoy's roof terrace.

Eating Finland Finnish restaurant culture is still relatively young.

But what’s so Finnish about it? Written by Roope Lipasti Translated by Christina Saarinen

Salt and pepper

lean water, clean air, the Northern midnight sun – that’s what Finnish food is made of. Or at least that’s what Finns like to think. Undeniably, Finnish new potatoes in particular are better than those grown further south. But in general, Finland’s short growing season is more of a limitation. Of course, the long summer days also offer opportunities. For example, we have many distinctive forest berries and mushrooms – and, of course, it’s a big country with plenty of game. Finnish food is often described as simple, clean, fresh, safe and healthy. The same words are also used to describe Finnish design, architecture and engineering expertise. When it comes to food, minimalism has turned a necessity into a virtue: here in the harsh conditions of the North, simple and trendy local food has always been eaten, but mainly for a lack of alternatives.

The flavors of Finnish food owe not only to local ingredients, but also to the methods of preparation: boiling and stewing in the oven have traditionally been favored. The flavors obtained by smoking, cooking over an open fire or using amylase reactions for sweetening are also common here. Finnish food has often been criticized for being tasteless and overcooked, which may not be completely untrue. Traditionally, the spices used in Finland were limited to two: salt and pepper. And of those, it was best to use a light hand with the pepper. So it’s no wonder that when new foods and flavors started arriving from around the world, they were often dialed back to suit the Finnish palate. For example, when German sausages, made with seasonings and a high meat content, started to be imported in the early 1990s, no one wanted to buy them at first. Finns were used to 14

Burgers & pizza

eating tasteless sausages made with a lot of fillers. But the world and people’s tastes change. Even so, when Finns move abroad, they often miss the traditional flavors of their homeland, flavors that hardly anyone else would miss: rye bread, salty licorice, weak Finnish coffee and pea soup. In a poll that was organized in 2017, rye bread was even chosen as the country’s official food. It won in a landslide. Other popular candidates were Karelian rice pasties and fried vendace, both delicacies from eastern Finland.

These days, a typical Finnish restaurant is pretty much the same as everywhere else. You’ll rarely come across the most traditional Finnish dishes, except in lunch restaurants, where you can still get things like Karelian stew, sausage soup and meatballs. It’s no wonder that the most recent report on restaurant trends by the Finnish Hospitality Association (MaRa) says that Finns are most apt to choose an internationally popular hamburger, chicken or pizza as their main course in a restaurant. Burgers in particular can be found on nearly every restaurant’s menu at the moment. The popularity of steaks, meanwhile, experienced a collapse during the COVID pandemic and is still clearly behind 2018 levels. The number of vegetarian dishes in Finnish restaurants has at the same time risen slightly. It may be related to the general growth in the popularity of vegetarian food, or to the fact that in the study in question, student cafeterias were mentioned more often than in the past as the last place respondents had gone out to eat. Young people are trendsetters in this area, after all. The study also revealed that while 40 years ago, going to a restaurant was a major event, in 2022, four out of five respondents had eaten restaurant food at least once in the previous two weeks. Times change, and we change with them! And of course, a burger isn’t the only option: a Finnish restaurant received a Michelin star for the first time in 1987, and last year, there were already seven one-star and one two-star Michelin restaurants in Finland. Bon appétit! s

Casual dining? Food culture is one thing, and restaurant culture is another. The latter is a fairly new invention in Finland. In the past, it was more like restaurants carefully chose the people they were willing to serve, but from the 1980s onwards, people were finally free to choose the restaurants they wanted to go to. Even in the 1970s, a woman who went into a restaurant alone was likely to be looked at askance. There was no such thing as a family night out at a restaurant. Dress codes were carefully regulated. It was common for neckties to be required – if you didn’t have a tie, the doorman might be able to rent you one. For a long time, you were also required to order food in a restaurant if you wanted to be served alcohol, which is why many places had a “common” sandwich that you could order but which was not intended to be eaten. The pretense allowed you to have your beer. The sandwich was returned to the establishment and sold again to the next customer. Serving alcohol was such an occult science all the way into the ’90s that it’s hard to comprehend from today’s perspective: alcohol was sold, but you weren’t allowed to get drunk. You couldn’t walk through a restaurant with a glass in your hand. You couldn’t buy two drinks at a time, meaning you couldn’t bring a friend a drink from the bar while getting your own. The status of bouncers was somewhat higher than God.

Five tips about Finnish restaurant culture

1. Do Finns tip? Generally, no. However, tipping has become more common in Finland, and when paying by card, you may be asked if you want to leave a tip. Of course, it is always okay to do so, in which case the good old 10 % rule is valid. But it’s not frowned upon to not leave a tip.

Learning from lunch restaurants

2. Do Finns buy rounds?

In the 1980s, things began to change. The economy was strong, and people had more money. Lunch vouchers were introduced as a job benefit, which taught the workforce to eat in company cafeterias. Packed sandwich lunches slowly disappeared, and the step towards eating dinner in restaurants became easier. Around the same time, hamburger chains became common in Finland (Finland’s first McDonald’s opened in Tampere in 1984), and with that, the strange idea that the whole family could go out to eat together spread. When new customers showed up in restaurants – women and children, the working class – it also affected what was offered. Instead of the perennial steak, you could order a salad! Wine culture also started to flourish, and little by little, chefs became celebrities. In the 1990s, Finns had already started going to restaurants without needing a special occasion. At the same time, restaurant menus became international. Of course, you could already get pizza in certain places in the 1970s, but now many other things started to appear: Asian flavors, Mexican food, even sushi, although that wouldn’t become popular with the general public until the 2010s.

In Finland, it isn’t usually customary, even among friends, to buy drinks for the whole group. But in this case too, it’s not a strict rule, especially if you’re out with close friends.

3. How should I dress? It’s always nice to dress up for dinner, but there are very few places where anyone is paying attention to how other people are dressed.

4. When is last call? It depends on the place. In pubs, last call, indicated by flashing the lights, is generally at 1:30 a.m., or at the latest at 2:30, after which you have half an hour to finish your drink. In restaurants, the kitchen usually closes around 10 p.m.

5. Who pays on a date? In Finland, everyone generally pays their own bill. But it’s also okay to ask your companion if you can pay their bill too! 15

photo: Envato

Winter swimming is for everyone

Written by Roope Lipasti Translated by Owen F. Witesman

In Finland, we swim

outdoors in the winter - it’s both healthy and fun.

here it is: the hole sawed in the ice that you’re supposed to jump into and swim – or at least take a dip. The sea stares back at you through that opening, black and cold, and not terribly inviting. But there’s nothing for it. Into the water you go! No point standing around shivering on the dock! Brrr... barely above freezing, at first the water takes your breath away, and even though more experienced bathers really do swim, a beginner climbs out almost as soon as he gets in.

Ice swimming gives you what your body needs: either refreshment or

relaxation, depending on what you need and how you feel.

But as soon as you’re back on the dock, a pleasant feeling spreads over your whole body, maybe tingling here and there and leaving you a little breathless, but the air feels warm, and you can really feel the blood coursing through your veins full of hormones that make you feel euphoric and young again. Next you head to the sauna, where hot steam warms your arms and legs, and soon you’re sweating out all the cares and stress of daily life. Ice swimming gives you what your body needs: either refreshment or relaxation, depending on what you need and how you feel.

especially beginners tend to get out of the water very quickly. The most important thing in this sport is to listen to yourself and swim as much as feels good. Even though ice swimming is all about overcoming your own limitations, there are competitions. What else would you expect? In Finland, the race distance is usually 25 meters. The rules are a little different than in normal swim races, though. For example, you can’t put your head under the water when doing the breaststroke. Until a few years ago, this sport was mainly for senior citizens, but now there are also many young people, especially students. The youngest competitor in the recent Finnish championships was 2 years old and the oldest was 88. The most active group is probably the 40–60 crowd, both men and women.

Come and join the fun! Ice swimming may sound a little extreme to some, but it continues to gain popularity in Finland. Every big city has several places where you can do it. And because Finland has 187,888 lakes in addition to the coastline, you can DIY it, too. All you need is a swimsuit and a towel. Slippers can be of use, for they insulate the feet from the cold. Some people also use a cap and gloves, which let the swimmer stay in the water a little longer. Most winter swimmers do have a sauna after being in the water, but some don’t have sauna at all. The latter say that without the sauna the endorphins keep going all day! On the other hand, the sauna prolongs the fun because one can take breaks to warm up.

Ice swimming is healthy The ancient ancestors of the Finns almost certainly practiced ice swimming, but in more recent times, ice swimming was related to treatments for rheumatism. Cold therapy was developed when it was found to alleviate pain. In addition to decreasing pain, the cold also increases the secretion of pleasure hormones. And that isn’t all. There’s a long list of health benefits: regular ice swimming has a positive effect on mood and increases immune response. The cold enhances muscle recovery from exercise and also makes it easier to sleep. In addition, sauna lowers blood pressure after the cold temporarily raises it, but overall, the effect is lower blood pressure. Ice swimming is also a stress killer, it constricts peripheral blood circulation, and noradrenaline makes you feel like you just won something! Dopamine and endorphins decrease symptoms of depression. And of course, there’s also a social aspect, since ice swimming is usually something to be done in a group. Finns sit in the sauna, swim, and what is most odd, they might chat with friends and strangers. And if that all isn’t enough, the cold also promotes fat burning as it speeds up the metabolism. Unfortunately, one swim hasn’t had much effect on the undersigned. s

The most important thing is overcoming yourself In Southern Finland, the sea doesn’t always freeze at all anymore, but that doesn’t get in the way of ice swimming. The water temperature is more or less the same in the winter with or without ice – just above freezing. There’s actually been a linguistic change with ice swimming often being referred to as winter swimming these days. Even though the thought of swimming in ice-cold water may be startling, it isn’t dangerous. On the contrary, a healthy body can withstand the cold. But if you suffer from a heart condition, then you should consult a doctor before climbing in. Swimming alone is also not recommended. It’s always safer with a friend, since you never know when you might trip or slip. The cold also won’t give you the flu or any other illness, although if you intend to stay in the water a really long time, there is the danger of hypothermia. However, that isn’t usually a problem, since

Ice swimming in Turku: saaronniemensaukot.fi turunavantouimarit.fi

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Turku timeline 1229

1308

1543

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.

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.

Mikael Agricola, the father of written Finnish, publishes his first book. It is also a milestone of Protestantism in Finland.

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.

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

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.

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.

Written by Roope Lipasti

1642

1900

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.

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

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.

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.)

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.

TPS, the biggest ice-hockey club in Turku, wins the Finnish championship.

1960–1980

1812

1827

1956, 1976, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2010.

1939–1945 Finland is at war with Russia. Turku suffers great damage during the bombings, among other buildings the castle is partly burned.

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.

2023 Turku is the sixth largest city in Finland with 200,000 inhabitants. It also is one of the nicest cities and most popular holiday destinations in Finland, with its historical attractions and magnificent archipelago. s

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Early medieval splendour comes to life Ristimäki exhibition at Aboa Vetus Ars Nova

Written by Ilari Aalto

In Turku - more precisely in Ravattula - it is

possible to visit Finland's oldest known church

site. To be honest, there is not much to see, but the walk along the beautiful river path is worth the experience. If not in the mood for a walk,

however, the Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum's new exhibition presents the reconstruction

of the Iron Age Ravattula costume and other fascinating grave finds until May 2024.

efore the city of Turku was founded in the Middle Ages, the Aura River valley was already a hub of wealthy merchants and farmers. It is no wonder that this was also one of the first areas in Finland to attract Christian missionaries around a thousand years ago. The shift from Iron Age to the medieval period was a time of rapid changes when Southwestern Finland was incorporated into the kingdom of Sweden and the first Christian parishes were founded. Written sources from the time are scarce, and only archaeological finds can shed new light on how people lived at the time and how the changing world affected them.

photo: Anne-Mari Liira

Bronze decorations

had preserved pieces

of fabric that allowed archaeologists to

reconstruct a complete female dress based on one grave, the Ravattula dress.

In 2013, archaeologists found the remains of the earliest known church in Finland located in Ravattula, four kilometres upstream from the modern city centre. The site has proven to be a treasure trove of information on how the people of Aura River valley lived and died over 800 years ago. The meagre timber church was erected in mid-11th century, and it was abandoned already in the following century. The site of the church sunk into oblivion after it was deserted, but its legacy was carried on in the name of the place where the ecclesiastical building once stood: the hill is known as Ristimäki, meaning ‘Cross Hill’ in Finnish. The archaeologists researching the place have deduced that the name refers to a memorial cross that was erected on the hill when the church was dismantled sometime in the 13th century. The enigmatic name of the place and rows of suspicious shallow pits attracted researchers from the University of Turku to Ristimäki in 2010. The group, led by archaeologist Juha Ruohonen, revealed soon that the hill did indeed hide a previously unknown early Christian

burial site, where the deceased had been buried in coffins, dressed in their finest clothes. The excavation continued for several years and in 2013 the archaeologists dug up a stone foundation: the remains of a ten-meter-long timber church. For a long time, archaeologists and historians had thought that such ancient churches had existed along the Aura River, but before this no conclusive evidence of them had been found. Archaeologists have estimated that the cemetery could contain as many as 400 burials, around 60 of which have been excavated to date. These have revealed a wealth of information on the living conditions, beliefs, and fashions of early medieval inhabitants of the river valley. Several female burials contained necklaces made of vivid glass beads that had been imported from the Middle East. More remarkably, bronze decorations had preserved pieces of fabric that allowed archaeologists to reconstruct a complete female dress based on one grave, the Ravattula dress. The Ravattula dress offers a glimpse of how Iron Age clothing transitioned into a more international medieval wear. The dress

photo: Jari Nieminen

Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Aboa Vetus Ars Nova is a museum of archaeology and contemporary art, situated in the heart of historical Turku. The museum is located in the iconic Villa von Rettig, originally a private home of a well-off tobacco manufacturer family built in the 1920s. The museum consists of two parts: the underground archaeological museum Aboa Vetus (“old Turku” in Latin) is constructed around the authentic archaeological remains of

the medieval town that were excavated in 1990s. The museum exhibits archaeological finds and the ruins of five medieval stone houses built around an old street that runs through the museum. The contemporary art museum Ars Nova (“new art”) spreads over two floors of the Villa von Rettig and hosts several temporary exhibitions and collection exhibitions every year, showcasing current artists and phenomena in art.

The site has proven to be a treasure trove

of information on how the people of Aura

ABOA VETUS ARS NOVA

River valley lived and died.

MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND CONTEMPORARY ART Itäinen Rantakatu 4–6, Turku | tel.: +358 207 181 640 www.avan.fi | info@avan.fi

included traditional elements, such as a blue-coloured woollen apron with sparkling bronze spiral decorations. In contrast, the long, bright red socks found in the grave were something unprecedented. During the Iron Age women and men alike had worn leg wraps, but woollen socks were a new fashion. The socks were coloured red with an expensive, imported dye. This and other minute details in the fragmentary textiles gave evidence of a wealthy community that was able to obtain valuable commodities from faraway places and to follow the latest trends in clothing. The reconstructions of the Ravattula dress and two other grave finds – as well as the original archaeological remains from Ristimäki – are on display in Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum’s exhibition Ristimäki until May 19th, 2024. s 27

Museum is open Tue–Sun 11 am–6 pm Admission Adults Combination ticket 15 € Aboa Vetus 10 € Ars Nova 10 € Children, 7–15 years 8 € Children under 7 years free

SEE

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Hero and/orVillain Written by Matti Mäkelä Translated by Christina Saarinen

Matti Nykanen celebrates winning Olympic gold in the 90 m ski jump in Sarajevo 1984.

According to Alfred Hitchcock, the villain

Ski jumper and Mr. Hyde

the hero. In real life, too, people are

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s story, Dr. Jekyll develops a serum that allows him to separate the good and evil sides of his personality. The violent, uninhibited Mr. Hyde is his evil side, which Dr. Jekyll, in his arrogance, imagines he can control. Things go badly, of course. For Matti Nykänen, that serum was alcohol. In his Jekyll form, he won four Olympic golds and six world championships, as well as 46 World Cup competitions. During his active career, he was able to keep his Mr. Hyde under control, and his misdeeds were either minor (breaking into a kiosk at night while drunk) or even endearing (the decision to go party in Spain for two weeks after an argument with team management, returning in time to win medals at the world championships). After Nykänen’s career in sports, he was unable to keep his Mr. Hyde in check. The sad, alcohol-soaked story of the

is much more important to a story than fascinated by contradictory characters, whom we find more interesting than

flawless, one-dimensional lone rangers.

Here are a few examples of such figures from the history of Finnish sports.

photo: Alexander Savialoff / Finnish Heritage Agency

ski-jumping legend, who died at the age of 55, included a short career as a stripper, as well as domestic violence and a prison sentence for attempted manslaughter. The Talented Mr. Myyrä Tom Ripley, the famous character from Patricia Highsmith’s crime novels and numerous films, is an extremely talented criminal who, by use of his wits – and sometimes luck – finds his way out of nearly hopeless situations. Jonni Myyrä won the Olympic gold in the javelin throw in 1920 and 1924. In addition to sports, Myyrä was active in business, but his success in that field didn’t soar to the same heights as his javelin. For example, a sawmill Myyrä owned went bankrupt without ever sawing a log. To solve his financial difficulties, Myyrä embezzled a large sum from the small municipality of Savitaipale, in South Karelia. After he was caught, he managed to pay back the amount he had embezzled by taking a bank loan, buying himself more time. Myyrä knew he was on thin ice, however, and after the 1924 Olympics in Paris, he fled directly to the United States. He was never seen again in Finland.

Javelin thrower Jonni Myyrä returning from the 1920 Antwerpen Olympic games after winning gold.

Rather than Al Capone, Niska of folk tales is perhaps closer to Jesse James of Western films: a righteous hero who falls into a life of crime because of the corruption of the powerful, not through any fault of his own. (Of course, the real Jesse James was an illiterate mass murderer.) There is a nasty twist also in Niska's story: during the Second World War, he helped Jews escape from German-controlled areas, but his motive was greed instead of doing the right thing. Niska is estimated to have earned 2.5 million Finnish marks from fake passports, about €800,000 in today’s money.

Sympathy for the Devil According to medieval myth, Dr. Faust sold his soul to the devil in exchange for infinite knowledge and supernatural abilities. As you might expect, Faust quickly began to suspect that the deal wasn’t such a good idea. Finnish sport experienced its Faustian moment at the 2001 Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, where six Finnish skiers were caught doping. It quickly became clear that the cheating was systemic, and had been condoned and coordinated by the coaching leadership and team doctors. Worst of all, Mika Myllylä and Harri Kirvesniemi had also made the deal with the devil. They were the biggest and purest heroes of Finnish skiing, who were supposed to be above such things. The shock was the same as that felt by American moviegoers when they saw Henry Fonda, in his first villainous role, shoot a small child at the beginning of Once Upon a Time in the West (Sergio Leone, 1968).

The Call of the Dark Side Jari Kurri, Finland’s Mr. Hockey, gained the attention of the Finnish public after scoring the winning goal against the Soviet Union in overtime at the 1978 European Junior Championships. Kurri spent the best years of his career in the NHL, winning the Stanley Cup five times and scoring more than 600 regular season goals. NHL players selected him as one of the hundred best players in the history of the sport, and he was chosen as the best player in Finland nine times in a row, from 1982 to 1990. In addition to his success, Finns loved Kurri for his modesty, humility and desire to play for the team. For example, at the age of 37, he went to the Nagano Olympics to support the team and accepted without complaint the role of a defensive fourth-line player. Then the pull of the dark side became too strong, and Kurri went down the same road as Anakin Skywalker. After a career as a coach and commentator, he took over as the general manager of his formative club, Helsinki’s Jokerit, who were playing in the KHL – Putin’s league. In 2019, Kurri, who had served on the board of the KHL, bought the Jokerit team, saying he wanted to get the team back under Finnish ownership. This was generally thought to be a lie from the beginning, and Kurri was seen as a front for and puppet of Russian oligarchs. The situation was made worse by the fact that Kurri seemed to forget that even if he wasn’t personally interested in the civil rights of Belarusians, the general manager of a professional Western team planning to play in Minsk should at least pretend to be interested (which is easily done by being “strongly concerned,” “following the situation closely,” and “hoping for more dialogue”). Kurri and Jokerit left the KHL after the start of the war in Ukraine. At the moment, Jokerit is striving to return to the light, which is to say the Liiga, Finland’s top league. To that end, the team has had to cut all ties, financial and otherwise, to their former icon. s

The Untouchable Algoth Niska was a big name at the dawn of Finnish football and was part of the Unitas team that won the first-ever Finnish championship in 1908. The high point of his career was the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, where the Finnish national team finished fourth (still the best result for Finnish football, by far). Niska himself scored Finland’s second goal in the quarterfinal match against Italy, which ended in a 3–2 overtime victory for Finland. Niska’s football career ended with a gold medal at the 1916 Finnish championship. Niska’s legendary reputation doesn’t rest on football, however, but rather on his career as a smuggler during Prohibition, which lasted from 1919 to 1932. Niska got most of his alcohol from Sweden and Estonia, and with his fast boats, he became the most famous of the rumrunners and the hero of a thirsty nation. Niska’s reputation was buoyed not only by the lack of popular support for Prohibition, but by the fact that he never shot at the police or used violence in any way, at least according to his own accounts. 31

TURKU TI MES

COLUMN

I miss you,

Madame Written by Antti Tuomainen Translated by Christina Saarinen

ur first meeting feels like a combination of a job interview and being given orders by a superior officer. I’m standing in a lobby, which isn’t really a lobby, more of a corridor, and I’m receiving instructions for my stay. My instructor, Madame, is the owner and hostess of the two-star hotel and speaks French, which is to be expected as we are in Le Havre, on the Normandy coast. I have only a passable knowledge of the language, so most of the instructions I’m being given disappear into the winds blowing in from the Atlantic. It’s fair to say that the check-in process and detailed instructions, down to the strict key policy, bear little resemblance to anything I have ever experienced. I have arrived in Le Havre at the invitation of the local literary festival. Shortly before my arrival, the festival announced that its main funder had withdrawn at the last minute and that the festival had been forced to resort to “slightly lower-cost solutions.” It certainly appears that the festival has succeeded in its objective. Just when I start to doubt whether the trip was a good idea, from having gotten up in the middle of the night in Helsinki to arriving in this bleak hallway in northern France, Madame concludes her briefing. She hands me my key, gives a few more strict orders, and points the way. I don’t dare argue. Nor is there anything I can do about the memories that come to mind of other trips, other hotels. For 20 years, I have had an international career as a writer, and I have gotten to travel with my books from Hong Kong to Mexico, Bucharest to Madrid. I have stayed in dozens, maybe hundreds of hotels.

photo: Envato

I thank Madame for a one-of-a-kind

visit, and I mean it. Sometimes a twostar hotel offers a six-star experience.

because of it – as sunny as the day dawning outside the windows. This is clearly Madame’s hotel, and we are here on her terms. She moves between the kitchen and the tables, pouring coffee, bringing bread and other necessities. It feels safe, homey. As the days go by, Madame still scolds me when I forget— encore! – to leave my key or when I try to open the front door the wrong way, but little by little we start to understand each other better. When my last morning in Le Havre arrives, I thank Madame for a one-of-a-kind visit, and I mean it. Sometimes a two-star hotel offers a six-star experience. When I later hear that, since my departure, the hotel has closed due to the owner’s retirement, I feel a certain wistfulness. Madame, I find myself thinking, I miss you. s

Antti Tuomainen is one of Finland’s most internationally successful contemporary writers. His works have been published in more than 30 countries. The Times, one of Britain’s most respected newspapers, has named Tuomainen the funniest writer in Europe.

Photo: Jonne Räsänen / Otava

When I attended the Edinburgh literary festival, my hotel room’s ceiling was as high as the room was vast. I had no need for the crystal chandeliers that dangled from a height of 7 meters, nor for the square footage of a tennis court, but the experience was certainly memorable. In Hong Kong, I stayed on the 39th floor, which offered an unmatched view of the city, especially since one of the walls was entirely windows. I suffer from a fear of heights, so the visit was unforgettable. In Paris, one particular room, and especially its bed, was so luxurious that it took me half the evening to prepare it for sleeping: there were pillows for a battalion and blankets and bedclothes enough for 10 normal beds. And luckily, the accommodation, which was booked by my publisher, included breakfast: I noted that the cheapest food item on the menu, a single boiled egg, would have cost €12. And I will never forget the night I spent in a 15th-century English inn. The low ceilings, creaking plank floors, thick stone walls and heavy silence had a significant impact on my feelings about ghosts. And what do I find in Le Havre? A bright room on the second floor, with everything I need. The furniture is sparse, to put it nicely, but the unoccupied space shows how clean the room is. The bed is comfortable, the bathroom shines. I go out for a meeting. Madame stops me at the front door, asks what I have forgotten. I think for a moment, then take the large room key from my pocket. Madame looks at me, then smiles. Eventually, I dare to smile too. By breakfast, it’s clear how wrong I have been with my preconceptions. In the breakfast room, Madame maintains the same discipline as elsewhere. But the atmosphere is – perhaps precisely

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