Åbo Bloodbath

The siege of Åbo (1563) was a siege of Åbo by the royal army under Eric XIV against his brother, John III, in 1563.

The Market Square (Finnish: Kauppatori, Swedish: Salutorget) is a city square in the city of Turku, in Finland. It is located in the city's VI District, and is generally considered the city's central square. It hosts a lively market on weekdays, and there are several cafés and restaurants on the square. The buildings around the Market Square are also part of the city's central business district. They include, for instance, the Hansa and Forum shopping centres, the Wiklund department store, an Orthodox church, a private medical clinic, and several instances of media such as an office of Finland's major newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, locally most significant newspaper Turun Sanomat and Yle.

The 2017 Turku attack took place on 18 August 2017 at around 16:02–16:05 (UTC+3) when 10 people were stabbed in central Turku, Southwest Finland. Two women were killed in the attack and eight people sustained injuries. Police were informed at 16:02. Three minutes later the attacker, Abderrahman Bouanane, a Moroccan rejected asylum seeker, had been detained. At the time of his arrest, Bouanane was using the name Abderrahman Mechkah, which was later discovered to be a false identity. In June 2018, Bouanane was found guilty of two counts of murder with terrorist intent and eight counts of attempted murder with terrorist intent. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. It was the first time anybody had been sentenced for a terrorist crime in Finland. Bouanane reportedly identified as a soldier of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). He had been radicalised three months before the stabbing took place. During the investigation, he was discovered possessing ISIS propaganda material and a video of him reciting a manifesto.

Turku Orthodox Church or the Church of the Holy Martyr Empress Alexandra (Finnish: Turun ortodoksinen kirkko; Russian: Церковь в честь святой мученицы царицы Александры, Cerkov v čest' svjatoj mučenicy cariny Aleksandry; Swedish: Åbo ortodoxa kyrka) is the main church of the Turku Orthodox parish located at the northeast corner of the Turku Market Square along the Yliopistonkatu street in Turku, Finland. The church was built under plans drafted by architect Carl Ludvig Engel and was ordered by Nicholas I of Russia on 5 January 1838. Construction, which began in 1839, cost 67,886 rubles and was completed in 1845. The church was consecrated on 2 September 1845. The church was dedicated to Alexandra, the spouse of Diocletian who had publicly become Christianised and suffered a martyr's death on 23 April 303. The choice of patron saint may have been due to Nicholas I's wife's name, Aleksandra Feodorovna. Most of the icons of the iconostasis come from Valaam Monastery. The Turku Orthodox church cemetery and cemetery chapel are located in Vasaramäki and there are other parish sanctuaries in Rauma and Salo.

Turku ( TOOR-koo; Finnish: [ˈturku] (listen); Swedish: Åbo, Finland Swedish: [ˈoːbu] (listen); Latin: Aboa; Russian: Турку, formerly Або; Estonian: Turu) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (Varsinais-Suomi) and the former Turku and Pori Province (Turun ja Porin lääni; 1634–1997). The region was originally called Suomi (Finland), which later became the name for the whole country. As of 31 March 2021, the population of Turku was 194,244 making it the sixth largest city in Finland after Helsinki, Espoo, Tampere, Vantaa and Oulu. There were 281,108 inhabitants living in the Turku Central Locality, ranking it as the third largest urban area in Finland after the Capital Region area and Tampere Central Locality. The city is officially bilingual as 5.2 percent of its population identify Swedish as a mother-tongue.It is unknown when Turku gained city rights. The Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town Aboa in his Bulla in 1229 and the year is now used as the foundation year of Turku. Turku is the oldest city in Finland, and served as the most important city of the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden (modern-day Finland). After the Finnish war, Finland became an autonomous grand duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809, and Turku was made the capital of the grand duchy. However, Turku lost its status as capital only after three years in 1812, when Tsar Alexander I of Russia decided to move the capital to Helsinki. It was only after the last great fire in 1827 that most governmental institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the Royal Academy of Turku (Turun Akatemia) founded in 1640, which then became the University of Helsinki, thus consolidating Helsinki's position as the new capital. Turku continued to be the most populous city in Finland until the end of the 1840s, and it remains the regional capital and an important business and cultural center and port. Because of its long history, it has been the site of many important events, and has extensively influenced Finnish history as the former capital city. Along with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Turku was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996, it was declared the "Christmas City" of Finland. Also, Turku has been officially declared the Food Capital of Finland, because it holds a number of Finland's oldest, highest quality restaurants alongside a historically famous fish market, held twice a year. Turku's canteen and café culture has often been compared to French food culture, which is why Turku has also been perceived as "Paris of Finland"; this is also the reason for the Swedish saying: "Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo!" ("Why Paris, we have Turku!")Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport with over three million passengers traveling through the Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn.

The Phoenix Hotel was a hotel located in Turku, Finland, on the edge of the Market Square along the street Kirkkokatu (now Yliopistonkatu), which operated from 1878 to 1922. The building was known as the Phoenix House even when it was the main building of the private University of Turku, founded in 1920. The Phoenix House was demolished in 1959.

Hamburger Börs was an Art Nouveau hotel building in Turku, Finland, next to the Market Square built in 1909. It was designed by Frithiof Strandell as an expansion to a hotel located on Kauppiaskatu. The building had 30 hotel rooms. The inner yard hosted the Metropol film theatre, which had been built into a brick warehouse according to Strandell's plans. The theatre later functioned with the names Lyyra V and Rialto up to the 1960s.Oy Centrum Ab sold the property to the Turku cooperative in 1942, and the cooperative planned how to make better use of the lot. The planning of the renovation started in the 1970s. Both the Finnish Museum Board and the Turku museum board wanted to protect the building. Plans for dismantling the building were published in 1976 and this drew media attention all around the country. There were differing opinions about the need to protect the building, and the intendant of the Turku Museum of Art Erik Bergh said that the building did not fit into its surroundings at all and could be dismantled.The Turku city council accepted the dismantling plan. The Finnish People's Democratic League, the museum board, the Arts foundation for the Province of Turku and Pori and the milieu political Enemmistö ry opposed the dismantling. The Finnish state rejected the complaints about the dismantling in December 1976 and dismantling could being. Although the protection of Port Arthur had awoken citizen activism, it was Hamburger Börs that made citizens of Turku demonstrate against dismantling for the first time. Dismantling began despite of the protests, and the new hotel building was built in 1979.The old hotel building with 14 rooms on Kauppiaskatu was spared and was reinforced in 2003. At the same time, elements in Strandell's original plans were restored to its facade and the coat of arms of Hamburg which had been on its wall since 1894 was restored. This building had originally been a two-floor stone house built in the 1830s, which had had an extra floor built and had been renovated to the Art Nouveau style from 1903 to 1904 according to Strandell's plans. The glass paintings of the building were designed by the German Willy Baer.

Yliopistonkatu (Finnish: [ˈyliˌopistonˌkɑtu]; Swedish: Universitetsgatan; literally "University Street") is a 1,5-kilometer-long street located in the city center of Turku, Finland, running parallel to the Aura River, starting at Kutomonkatu and ending at Koulukatu. Since 2001, the part of Yliopistonkatu between Aurakatu and Humalistonkatu, which is about four hundred meters long, has been a pedestrian street. The area of the current pedestrian street has been Turku's Christmas street since 1948. The Turku Market Square is also located along Yliopistonkatu.Yliopistonkatu is one of the streets in the town plan designed by Carl Ludvig Engel after the Great Fire of Turku. The street was formerly known as the "Russian Church Street" (Venäjän Kirkkokatu) according to the Church of the Holy Martyr Empress Alexandra located along it. In February 1924, the street was named Yliopistonkatu in the building of the former Phoenix Hotel along it, which had been operating since 1922 at the University of Turku. Other options for the street were Kustaa Aadolfin katu and Vapaudenkatu, but Yliopistonkatu took the win. After the university moved to Yliopistonmäki (literally "University Hill") in 1955, initiatives have been taken by the Nomenclature Committee to transform Yliopistonkatu into Mannerheiminkatu, Leningradinkatu or Göteborginkatu. However, the name has remained the same.

Turku Market Hall is the second oldest market hall in Finland, and it was opened in 1896 in Turku.

Hansa (Finnish: Hansakortteli, Swedish: Hansakvarteret) is a shopping centre in the city centre of Turku, in Finland. It is located in the city's VII District, next to the main Market Square. The shopping centre hosts a total of 156 businesses, including nineteen cafés and restaurants. It also contains a theatre. The Turku branch of the Stockmann department store is located in Hansa. Hansa is usually considered as the most important shopping centre in Turku region, though it has lost some of its popularity to the out-of-town Mylly shopping centre in Raisio. The annual sales of Hansa in 2005 totalled over 170 million euros, making it the largest Finnish shopping centre outside the Greater Helsinki area. By number of visitors (approximately 13.5 million) Hansa is the third largest shopping centre in Finland.

Panimoravintola Koulu is a Finnish brewery restaurant in the city of Turku. Koulu (Finnish for "school") is the largest brewery restaurant in Finland and it is situated in a former Neo-Renaissance style school building from 1889 by architects L. I. Lindqvist and Bruno Granholm. The school to first occupy the building was "Svenska Fruntimmerskolan i Åbo", which was later renamed as the "Svenska flickskolan i Åbo" in 1916, again in 1955 when it became "Åbo svenska flicklyseum", until finally in 1966 the name was changed to "Cygnaeus skola". On 4 February 1940, during the Winter War, the school was hit by a Soviet incendiary bomb, which set fire to the roof and destroyed the assembly hall (now known as the Bellman assembly hall). One of the high points in the history of Koulu was the visit of Commander-in-Chief, Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim on 14 February 1941. The school was shut down in 1970. The restaurant was opened in 1998.The restaurant's Bellman assembly hall and cabinets Cygnaeus and Wecksell on the second floor seat altogether 700 people at most and they can be reserved for conferences and private parties. Koulu's Winehouse, History class, Beerhouse, the summer kiosk outside and the brewery are on the first floor.The brewery has four regularly produced beers and one cider. On top of which, the brewery also produces several (at least 12) special or seasonal brews throughout the year. All the beers are made under the regulations of the German purity law, the Reinheitsgebot from 1516. It allows only the use of water, malted barley, hops and yeast.

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.