Aurora Society

Pinella was a restaurant in the Porthaninpuisto park in central Turku, Finland, next to the Turku Cathedral. The restaurant was run by Sunborn Group. Pinella was one of the oldest restaurants in Finland in terms of length of operation.In 1848, Nils Henrik Pinello from Turku sought permission to construct a pavilion in the middle of the Porthaninpuisto park. The permission was granted and the pavilion was constructed in the place where the statue of Henrik Gabriel Porthan is currently located. Because of the statue, the pavilion was moved closed to the River Aura, for which the city of Turku gave Pinello a grant of 150 roubles. In the same year, the Doric order columns designed by Per Johan Gylich in 1836 were expanded. In 1862 Nils Pinello gave the pavilion away to his son Julius Pinello, after which it has had several owners.The restaurant was known as the bohemian meeting place of the culture and art circles, famous visitors in the 19th century have included Elias Lönnrot, J. L. Runeberg and Sakari Topelius.In 1919, prohibition starved off many restaurants, but Pinella acted as an alcohol store during the time. Alcohol was hidden in the columns among other places. In 1937 a Gulf service station was opened next to the restaurant and stayed there until the late 1970s. The Turku Artists' Association kept ownership of Pinella from the early 1950s to the late 1960s. Pinella was known once again as the meeting place of the bohemian and the artists.In 1973, Pinella was renovated and opened the first street-side terrace with an alcohol sale licence in Finland next to the river shore. From 2004 to 2011 Pinella was disused and its condition worsened. The place was thoroughly renovated. As archaeologists investigated the bottom floor it became apparent that there had been a public toilet at the back of the columns in the 19th century. During the renovation the restaurant's original tapestries from the 19th century were also found.Erik Mansikka, who won the "Vuoden kokki" ("Chef of the year") award in 2013, has been working as a chef in Pinella in the early 2010s. In summer 2018, Sami Tallberg has also worked as a chef in the Pinella kitchen.Restaurant Pinella closed down on 25 September 2021.

Katedralskolan i Åbo (the Cathedral School of Åbo) is the Swedish-language upper secondary school of Turku, located at the Old Great Square (the town, former capital of Finland, is known as Åbo in Swedish). The school believes that it was founded in 1276 for the education of boys to become servants of the Church. The schoolhouse was situated within the wall surrounding the Cathedral of Turku. Mikael Agricola, the founder of Finnish literature, was the headmaster of the school 1539-1548. When the Royal Academy of Turku, now the University of Helsinki, was founded in 1640, the senior part of the school formed the core of the new university, while the junior year courses formed a trivialskola, a grammar school. The graduates of Turku Cathedral School were eligible to be admitted to the university. The current schoolhouse was built after the Great Fire of Turku in 1827. In 1830, the city of Turku also obtained a gymnasium, a higher secondary school, while the older Catedral School became a preparatory school of the new gymnasium. To reflect this, the name of the Cathedral School was changed in 1840 to Högre Elementarläroverk, literally "Higher Elementary School". In the education reform of 1872, the Högre Elementarläroverk and the gymnasium were merged into Svenska klassiska lyceum i Åbo, a Swedish-speaking classical school. In the 1970s Svenska klassiska lyceum and Åbo svenska flicklyceum, The Swedish Girls' Secondary School of Turku, were united and the old school name Katedralskolan i Åbo, the Cathedral School of Turku, was revived. Since the Swedish Reformation in the early 16th century, the Cathedral School and its successors had been financed by the state. In 1977, the introduction of the comprehensive school system in Turku also caused the transferral of the Katedralskolan to the City of Turku. At the same time, the school lost its five lowest classes (age groups 10–15). Since then, the Cathedral School has denoted the three-year upper secondary school at Gamla Stortorget 1, providing academically-oriented secondary education to comprehensive school graduates. In theory, the Katedralskolan is the oldest institution of learning of Finland as it has an organizational continuity from the medieval Cathedral school, founded in 1276.

Aboa Vetus and Ars Nova is a museum in central Turku, Finland. The museum is housed in a building known as the Rettig palace, originally built in 1928. Aboa Vetus displays portions of the city dating back to medieval times, while Ars Nova is a museum of contemporary art. The museum was first opened in 1885 as two independent museums. Originally, plans were for only Ars Nova, the contemporary art museum, but during its construction a number of structures and artifacts dating back to the Middle Ages were discovered, and the archaeological excavation that was commissioned eventually transformed into Aboa Vetus. The two museums were combined in 2004 and Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova is now among the most popular tourist venues in the entire region of Southwest Finland.

Turku City Library (Finnish: Turun kaupunginkirjasto, Swedish: Åbo stadsbibliotek) is a municipal public library in Turku. The Main Library is located in the VI District at the city centre. The Turku City Library also operates several branch libraries and two mobile libraries. It is part of the Vaski library network, which is a consolidation of 18 public libraries in the Finland Proper region.The library traces its roots to the 1860s, when a privately funded people's library and an academic oriented city library were established in Turku. The municipality of Turku soon took over operating both libraries, and in 1912 they were merged to form the Turku City Library.The Turku City Library has a regional development responsibility in the regions of Finland Proper and Satakunta. The libraries with regional development responsibility are tasked with developing the working environment of the area's public libraries and updating the staff's skills and knowledge.

The Old Great Square (Finnish: Vanha Suurtori, Swedish: Gamla Stortorget) is a medieval market square located in the city centre of Turku, Finland. It is located in the II District in very close proximity to Turku Cathedral. The area was the administrative and commercial centre of Turku since the founding of the city in the 13th century up until the Great Fire of Turku. Today, there are buildings alongside the Old Great Square, but only on the southern side because the blocks on the northern side changed to Porthaninpuisto after the fire. There are four historical buildings which the City of Turku restored for cultural use: the Brinkkala Mansion, Old Town Hall, Hjelt Mansion and Juselius Mansion. The buildings were mainly constructed after the fire and represent neoclassicism.

The Medieval Market of Turku (Finnish: Turun keskiaikaiset markkinat, Swedish: Åbo medeltidsmarknad) is an annual historical reenactment event organised in the historic city centre of Turku, Finland. Admission to the event is free. In addition to living history performances, it includes an open-air handicrafts market with vendors and even visitors garbed in period costume. The main market is at the Old Great Square (one of the city's oldest market squares), but there are other performances and exhibitions at Turku Castle, Turku Cathedral and at the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum. Together these different performances and exhibitions form the Medieval Turku event, which is organized in unison by Turun Suurtorin keskiaika ry, the Museum Centre of Turku, the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova museum, Rohan Stables and Turku and Kaarina Parish Union. These areas are closed to traffic during the event.

The Library Bridge (Finnish: Kirjastosilta, Swedish: Biblioteksbron) is a pedestrian and cycling bridge in Turku designed by Pontek Oy. Located at the city centre, the bridge crosses the Aura River connecting the streets Kauppiaskatu and Rettiginrinne. The bridge was opened for traffic in 2013, and it was named as the result of a public naming contest. The Turku Main Library is located near the bridge.The glass railing of the bridge is illuminated during the dark hours, and the programmable illumination enables the use of different colors during holidays and special occasions. The bridge has won several construction awards.

Turku Main Library (Finnish: Turun kaupunginkirjaston pääkirjasto, Swedish: Åbo huvudbibliotek) is the chief branch of Turku City Library, located in the city centre of Turku, Finland. The library is approximately 8,500 m².

Lilja is a red granite sculpture by Wäinö Aaltonen, located in Turku, Finland. It is located in Runeberginpuisto near the Aurasilta. It depicts the lily, the flower of the Turku coat of arms. In 1927, the statue was the first public art commission in Turku.Today, the Lilja statue is a central part of Vappu in Turku. The traditional placing of the student cap on the head of the statue was first done in spring 1929 when students decided that, like the Havis Amanda student cap ceremony in Helsinki, Turku needed the same tradition. The student nation Turun yliopiston varsinaissuomalainen osakunta began the traditional cleaning of the statue for Vappu at the end of the 1960s. The Lilja statue also goes by the name Turun Lilja/Åbo Lilja ("the lily of Turku").

Turku and Pori Province (Finnish: Turun ja Porin lääni, Swedish: Åbo och Björneborgs län, Russian: Або-Бьёрнеборгская губерния) was a province of independent Finland from 1917 to 1997. The province was however founded as a county in 1634 when today's Finland was an integrated part of Sweden. It is named after the cities of Turku (Swedish: Åbo) and Pori (Swedish: Björneborg). Åland was split into a separate province in 1918. In 1997 Turku and Pori Province was merged with the northern part of the Häme Province, the provinces of Vaasa and Central Finland into the new Western Finland Province.

The Great Fire of Turku (Finnish: Turun palo and Swedish: Åbo brand) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had burned once before, in 1681.

The VI District is the northernmost of the central districts of Turku, Finland. It is located on the west side of the river Aura, to the east of Aurakatu. It forms part of the city's central business district, hosting a large proportion of the city's business life, particularly around the central Market Square (Kauppatori). The city's main bus station and the head library are also located in this district. The Finnish national road 1 begins in the VI District. The district is the fifth largest in the city, having a population of 6,187 (as of 2004) and an annual population growth rate of -0.15%. 5.11% of the district's population are under 15 years old, while 22.64% are over 65. The district's linguistic makeup is 87.23% Finnish, 10.00% Swedish, and 2.77% other.