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89-576: Turku City Theatre is a theatre in the City of Turku . It was founded in 1946, when "Turun Teatteri" and "Turun Työväen Teatteri" merged. It was the oldest fully municipality owned theatre in Finland , until 2014, when it became a joint-stock company owned by the City of Turku . Turku Turku ( / ˈ t ʊər k uː / TOOR -koo ; Finnish: [ˈturku] ; Swedish : Åbo , Finland Swedish: [ˈoːbu] )

178-461: A centre for the transshipment of sea cargo to inland destinations. A smart port uses technologies, including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to be more efficient at handling goods. Smart ports usually deploy cloud-based software as part of the process of greater automation to help generate the operating flow that helps the port work smoothly. At present, most of

267-607: A dozen theatres situated in Turku, with the largest being the Turku City Theatre . Located in the city centre on the banks of the River Aura, it offers a varied programme of classical and contemporary drama. Other theatres in Turku include Linnateatteri  [ fi ] , Åbo Svenska Teater , TEHDAS and Turun Nuori Teatteri , in addition to smaller establishments such as the puppet theatre, Aura of Puppets , and

356-897: A fishing port to be uneconomical. A marina is a port for recreational boating. A warm-water port (also known as an ice-free port) is one where the water does not freeze in winter. This is mainly used in the context of countries with mostly cold winters where parts of the coastline freezes over every winter. Because they are available year-round, warm-water ports can be of great geopolitical or economic interest . Such settlements as Narvik in Norway, Dalian in China, Murmansk , Novorossiysk , Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Vostochny Port in Russia, Odesa in Ukraine, Kushiro in Japan and Valdez at

445-496: A fusion of medieval ruins and modern art. On Vartiovuori , lies the Luostarinmäki Craftsman Museum, which represents a wooden housing locality dating back to the 18th century. The Pharmacy Museum and Qwensel House hold the distinction of being Turku's earliest wooden abode, offering a glimpse into the bourgeois life of the 18th century and a 19th-century drugstore. The contemporary art museum, WAM ,

534-548: A growing role in the information technology and biotechnology industries in recent decades. The Turku region hosts the business service centre Potkuri and the start-up community SparkUp . In addition, the West Finland Film Commission works to promote favourable operating conditions for companies in the AV industry and for the production of films and TV series in the Turku region. Turku Future Technologies

623-421: A migrant background living in Turku, or 15.6% of the population. There were 28,002 residents who were born abroad, or 13.9% of the population. The number of foreign citizens in Turku was 19,062. The relative share of immigrants in Turku's population is well above the national average. Moreover, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in

712-711: A port or nearby. Modern ports will have specialised cargo -handling equipment, such as gantry cranes , reach stackers and forklift trucks . Ports usually have specialised functions: some tend to cater mainly for passenger ferries and cruise ships ; some specialise in container traffic or general cargo; and some ports play an important military role for their nation's navy. Some third world countries and small islands such as Ascension and St Helena still have limited port facilities, so that ships must anchor off while their cargo and passengers are taken ashore by barge or launch (respectively). In modern times, ports survive or decline, depending on current economic trends. In

801-720: A selection of music festivals, catering to diverse tastes and moods. The longest running rock festival in Finland, Ruisrock , is held on the island of Ruissalo. Aura Fest is a new city-based festival, set to debut in the summer of 2022. DBTL is another city festival, situated along the banks of the Aura River. Turku Jazz is an annual festival in July. August sees the Turku Music Festival , dedicated to classical music. Seaport Ports are extremely important to

890-424: A ship on its sailing itinerary. At these ports, cargo ships may take on supplies or fuel, as well as unloading and loading cargo while cruise liners have passengers get on or off ship. A fishing port is a port or harbor for landing and distributing fish. It may be a recreational facility, but it is usually commercial. A fishing port is the only port that depends on an ocean product, and depletion of fish may cause

979-516: A ship to sail from the ocean inland to the port to load or unload its cargo. An example of this is the St. Lawrence Seaway which allows ships to travel from the Atlantic Ocean several thousand kilometers inland to Great Lakes ports like Toronto , Duluth-Superior , and Chicago . The term inland port is also used for dry ports . A seaport is a port located on the shore of a sea or ocean. It

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1068-523: A single Dutch ship per year, whereas Osaka was the largest domestic port and the main trade hub for rice. Post-classical Swahili kingdoms are known to have had trade port islands and trade routes with the Islamic world and Asia. They were described by Greek historians as "metropolises". Famous African trade ports such as Mombasa , Zanzibar , Mogadishu and Kilwa were known to Chinese sailors such as Zheng He and medieval Islamic historians such as

1157-502: A small semi-automated container port (with links to the Port of Felixstowe , the UK's largest container port) thrived for some years, but has been hit hard by competition from the emergent London Gateway port and logistics hub. In mainland Europe, it is normal for ports to be publicly owned, so that, for instance, the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam are owned partly by the state and partly by

1246-665: A third of the world's shipping containers , half of the world's annual supply of crude oil , and is the world's busiest transshipment port . Europe's busiest container port and biggest port by cargo tonnage by far is the Port of Rotterdam , in the Netherlands. It is followed by the Belgian Port of Antwerp or the German Port of Hamburg , depending on which metric is used. In turn, the Spanish Port of Valencia

1335-972: A variety of cultural events. The most important one is the declaration of Christmas Peace on 24 December in the Old Great Square . The tradition is about 700 years old. Other notable events include the Medieval Market , the Music Festival , the Book Fair , the Film Day , the Animated Film Festival TAFF, the Jazz Festival , the Paavo Nurmi Games of athletics, the Ruisrock rock festival,

1424-614: Is Finland's oldest city. It is not known when Turku was granted city status . Pope Gregory IX first mentioned the town of Aboa in his Bulla in 1229, and this year is now used as the founding year of the city. Turku was the most important city in the eastern part of the Kingdom of Sweden (today's Finland). After the Finnish War , Finland became an autonomous Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire in 1809, and Turku became

1513-492: Is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland . It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the River Aura . The population of Turku is approximately 206,000, while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 315,000. It is the 6th most populous municipality in Finland, and the third most populous urban area in the country after Helsinki and Tampere . Turku

1602-824: Is a development centre and research and innovation network supported by eight Finnish universities. Smart Chemistry Park is a collaborative platform and network for the bio- and circular economy as well as the chemical industry in Raisio . Meanwhile, Blue Industry Park is a growing cluster for maritime and manufacturing industries. At least the following major Finnish companies have their corporate headquarters in Turku: HKScan and Hesburger . Other major companies which have operations in Turku include Bayer , Fläkt Woods , Meyer Werft , Orion Corporation and Wärtsilä . Cultural venues in Turku include several museums, theatres, cinemas, art galleries , and music. Turku offers

1691-516: Is an important commercial and passenger seaport , with over three million passengers travelling to Stockholm and Mariehamn each year. The Finnish name Turku originates from Swedish and Russian. The first information about the word tori dates back to the 16th century and was borrowed from Sweden (cf. Swedish : torg , "market"). In Sweden, the word is not original, but borrowed from an Old East Slavic word, tǔrgǔ , which in modern Russian means market place , haggling or trading. However,

1780-423: Is divided into 78 districts and nine wards . These do not operate as units of local government. However, some social programmes are district-based, especially in the eastern part of the city, where unemployment is high in some areas. The largest populated districts are Varissuo and Runosmäki . By area, Kakskerta and Paattinen are the largest districts. As many of the small neighbouring municipalities from

1869-418: Is extremely vulnerable to sea level rise and coastal flooding . Internationally, global ports are beginning to identify ways to improve coastal management practices and integrate climate change adaptation practices into their construction. Wherever ancient civilisations engaged in maritime trade, they tended to develop sea ports. One of the world's oldest known artificial harbors is at Wadi al-Jarf on

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1958-404: Is further categorized as commercial and non-commercial: Cargo ports are quite different from cruise ports, because each handles very different cargo, which has to be loaded and unloaded by a variety of mechanical means. Bulk cargo ports may handle one particular type of cargo or numerous cargoes, such as grains, liquid fuels, liquid chemicals, wood, automobiles, etc. Such ports are known as

2047-524: Is known as the "father of Finnish literary language", continued the religious reform first as the headmaster of the cathedral school and later as the Bishop of Turku. Duke John (later John III ), the son of Gustav Vasa, received the title of Duke of Finland and ruled his territory from Turku Castle before becoming next king of Sweden after his brother, Eric XIV . In the aftermath of the War against Sigismund ,

2136-405: Is located near the current center of Turku. There is nothing to suggest that the actual city of Turku still existed at this point; however, the city was not founded on uninhabited land, but there were fields and probably also a peasant village. Since no reliable document has survived about the year of the city's founding, it has also been speculated that the city was founded in the 1280s or 1290s by

2225-423: Is making it the third largest region in Finland after Helsinki and Tampere . Turku is home to 4% of Finland's population. 15.6 per cent of the population has a foreign background, which is almost twice as high as the national average. However, it is lower than in the major Finnish cities of Helsinki , Espoo or Vantaa . The city's population density is 794.4 inhabitants per square kilometre. The median age in

2314-543: Is named after Turku's sculptor, Wäinö Aaltonen . Additionally, the Biological Museum serves as a diorama museum covering Finnish wildlife and fauna. Forum Marinum is a maritime museum of exhibits and museum vessels, including the frigate Suomen Joutsen and the last commercial steam ship in Scandinavia MS Bore . Turku Castle is an attraction with over 700 years of history. There are half

2403-485: Is not uncommon. 15.3% of the population of Turku have a mother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish. More than a hundred different languages are spoken as mother tongues in Turku, and citizens from more than 130 countries live in the city. The people of Turku also represent all major religions. The most commonly spoken foreign languages are Russian (1.8%), Arabic (1.7%), Albanian (1.2%), Kurdish (1.2%) and Somali (0.9%). As of 2023 , there were 31,589 people with

2492-688: Is often lower because of both direct and indirect pollution from the shipping, and other challenges caused by the port's community, such as trash washing into the ocean. Sewage from ships, and leaks of oil and chemicals from shipping vessels can contaminate local water, and cause other effects like nutrient pollution in the water. Ports and their infrastructure are very vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise, because many of them are in low-lying areas designed for status quo water levels. Variable weather, coastal erosion, and sea level rise all put pressure on existing infrastructure, resulting in subsidence , coastal flooding and other direct pressures on

2581-671: Is the busiest port in the Mediterranean basin, while the Portuguese Port of Sines is the busiest atlantic port. The Port of Trieste , Italy , is the main port of the northern Adriatic and starting point of the Transalpine Pipeline . The largest ports include the Port of South Louisiana , a vast sprawling port centered in the New Orleans area, Houston , Port of New York/New Jersey , Los Angeles in

2670-512: Is the largest port in the world in both cargo tonnage and activity. It regained its position as the world's busiest port by cargo tonnage and the world's busiest container port in 2009 and 2010, respectively. It is followed by the ports of Singapore , Hong Kong and Kaohsiung , Taiwan , all of which are in East and Southeast Asia . The port of Singapore is the world's second-busiest port in terms of total shipping tonnage, it also transships

2759-401: Is the port where cruise ship passengers board (or embark ) to start their cruise and disembark the cruise ship at the end of their cruise. It is also where the cruise ship's supplies are loaded for the cruise, which includes everything from fresh water and fuel to fruits, vegetables, champagne, and any other supplies needed for the cruise. "Cruise home ports" are very busy places during the day

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2848-464: Is when a native species with no natural predator is all of a sudden prey of an invasive specie. Indirect interaction can be diseases or other health conditions brought by invasive species. Ports are also a source of increased air pollution as a result of ships and land transportation at the port. Transportation corridors around ports have higher exhaust emissions and this can have related health effects on local communities. Water quality around ports

2937-590: The Aura River . The Turku Art Museum is housed in a granite castle, with exhibits of both classical and contemporary art. Turku Cathedral and its museum, located on the banks of the Aura River, provide information about the history and artifacts of the church. Adjacent to the cathedral, Ett Hem , a 19th-century bourgeois residence, and the Sibelius Museum , which displays a collection of musical instruments, can be found. Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova presents

3026-655: The Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan . As of 2020, the busiest passenger port in Europe is the Port of Helsinki in Finland . Nevertheless, countless smaller ports do exist that may only serve their local tourism or fishing industries. Ports can have a wide environmental impact on local ecologies and waterways, most importantly water quality, which can be caused by dredging, spills and other pollution . Ports are heavily affected by changing environmental factors caused by climate change as most port infrastructure

3115-661: The Down by the Laituri music festival and the New Performance Turku Biennale . Turku was the European Capital of Culture in 2011, and the city council has approved numerous projects to boost the city's image in preparation for that status. According to archaeological evidence, Turku started to get built in the late 13th Century. However, only a few of its medieval buildings have survived to

3204-540: The Finnish-language University of Turku was founded alongside it. These two universities are the second and third to be founded in Finland, both by private donations. In the 20th century, Turku was called "Finland's gateway to the West" by historians such as Jarmo Virmavirta  [ fi ] . The city enjoyed good connections with other Western European countries and cities, especially since

3293-548: The Ice Age . Due to tectonic uplift , the Turku region transformed from an outlying archipelago to a shoreline during 3000-2000 BCE. The area was densely populated during the Iron Age as it was the most important agricultural region in the region. Ancient cemeteries dating from 550 to 1150 have been discovered in the region. Some cemeteries were utilized during the initial migratory phase, while some were solely utilized during

3382-640: The London Gateway . Ideally, a port will grant easy navigation to ships, and will give shelter from wind and waves. Ports are often on estuaries, where the water may be shallow and may need regular dredging . Deep water ports such as Milford Haven are less common, but can handle larger ships with a greater draft, such as super tankers , Post-Panamax vessels and large container ships . Other businesses such as regional distribution centres , warehouses and freight-forwarders, canneries and other processing facilities find it advantageous to be located within

3471-571: The Red Sea . Along with the finding of harbor structures, ancient anchors have also been found. Other ancient ports include Guangzhou during Qin dynasty China and Canopus , the principal Egyptian port for Greek trade before the foundation of Alexandria . In ancient Greece, Athens' port of Piraeus was the base for the Athenian fleet which played a crucial role in the Battle of Salamis against

3560-492: The maritime , life sciences , information technology, entertainment, biotechnology , and sustainable development industries. The city's economic hub revolves around the Port of Turku and other service-oriented sectors. The dockyard of Meyer Turku and the maritime business cluster reign as the leading industrial employer in the area. The city also boasts a high-tech centre in the Turku Science Park area, with

3649-462: The "Paris of Finland", hence the Swedish saying: "Varför Paris, vi har ju Åbo!" ("Why Paris, we have Turku!"). Turku is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of 79% Finnish speakers, 5% Swedish speakers, and 15% speakers of other languages, which is well above the national average. Due to its location, the Port of Turku

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3738-468: The "bulk" or "break bulk ports". Ports that handle containerized cargo are known as container ports . Most cargo ports handle all sorts of cargo, but some ports are very specific as to what cargo they handle. Additionally, individual cargo ports may be divided into different operating terminals which handle the different types of cargoes, and may be operated by different companies, also known as terminal operators, or stevedores . A cruise home port

3827-492: The 11th century, the Turku region began to develop as a port. The oldest known road, Hämeen härkätie , connected to region and the Old Castle of Lieto to Tavastia in the 9th century at the latest. Early literary sources such as Al-Idrisi's world map from 1154 mentions Turku. According to the permission granted by Pope Gregory IX on 23 January 1229, the episcopal seat was moved from Nousiainen to Koroinen , which

3916-614: The 15th century to the 16th century, the court exercising the country's highest judicial power, the Land Court of Turku  [ sv ] , met in the city. At the beginning of the 16th century, in connection with the disputes of the Kalmar Union , the Danes destroyed the city twice, in 1509 under the leadership of Admiral Otte Rud and in 1522 under the leadership of Admiral Søren Norby , until Erik Fleming 's troops expelled

4005-475: The 15th century. Only the ruins remain of the bishop's church in Koroistenniemi, Koroinen , but the white cross serves as a reminder of the bishop's castle that existed centuries ago. Qwensel House , the oldest wooden house in Turku dating back to the 18th century, has been converted into a museum. No other medieval buildings have survived to the present day. Most of Turku's museums are situated beside

4094-485: The 17th century. Even if Turku had no official capital status, it was for a long time the most important city in Finland as part of the trade and shipping of the Hanseatic League . In the 14th century, two-thirds of the city's burghers were German, but gradually the proportion of domestic burghers increased. In addition to the ecclesiastical authority, the only lawspeakers in Finland operated in Turku, and from

4183-593: The 1940s with Stockholm across the Gulf of Bothnia . In the 1960s, Turku became the first Western city to sign a twinning agreement with Leningrad in the Soviet Union , leading to greater inter-cultural exchange and providing a new meaning to the city's 'gateway' function. After the fall of communism in Russia, many prominent Soviets came to Turku to study Western business practices, among them Vladimir Putin , then Leningrad's deputy mayor. As for architecture in

4272-450: The Aura river in Turku. The oldest of the current bridges is Auransilta  [ fi ] , which was constructed in 1904. The newest bridge is Kirjastosilta  [ fi ] ('library bridge'), a pedestrian-only bridge built in 2013. The Föri , a small ferry that transports pedestrians and bicycles across the river without payment, is a well known feature of the city. The city

4361-814: The Berber Islamic voyager Abu Abdullah ibn Battuta . Many of these ancient sites no longer exist or function as modern ports. Even in more recent times, ports sometimes fall out of use. Rye, East Sussex , was an important English port in the Middle Ages, but the coastline changed and it is now 2 miles (3.2 km) from the sea, while the ports of Ravenspurn and Dunwich have been lost to coastal erosion . Whereas early ports tended to be just simple harbours, modern ports tend to be multimodal distribution hubs , with transport links using sea, river, canal, road, rail and air routes. Successful ports are located to optimize access to an active hinterland , such as

4450-435: The Danes from Finland in 1523. After the beginning of peace, Gustav Vasa , who had just become king, thoroughly got to know different parts of his kingdom, the center of the king's first visit to Finland being Turku Castle, where he lived during his visit. The new king also brought with him the religious reformation , and the first to preach the new doctrine was Petrus Särkilahti . Särkilahti's student Mikael Agricola , who

4539-688: The Finnish War. Despite the occupation, life in Turku continued peacefully. The Court of Appeal of Turku continued its session when the Russians arrived, and later in the spring Jacob Tengström , the Archbishop of Turku and Finland , and the teaching staff of the Turku Academy swore an oath of loyalty to their new ruler. Turku became briefly the official capital, but soon lost the status to Helsinki, as Emperor Alexander I felt that Turku

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4628-415: The Netherlands. Ports with international traffic have customs facilities. The terms "port" and "seaport" are used for different types of facilities handling ocean-going vessels, and river port is used for river traffic, such as barges and other shallow-draft vessels. An inland port is a port on a navigable lake, river ( fluvial port), or canal with access to a sea or ocean, which therefore allows

4717-660: The Persians in 480 BCE. In ancient India from 3700 BCE, Lothal was a prominent city of the Indus valley civilisation, located in the Bhal region of the modern state of Gujarāt . Ostia Antica was the port of ancient Rome with Portus established by Claudius and enlarged by Trajan to supplement the nearby port of Ostia. In Japan, during the Edo period , the island of Dejima was the only port open for trade with Europe and received only

4806-1149: The U.S., Manzanillo in Mexico and Vancouver in Canada. Panama also has the Panama Canal that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and is a key conduit for international trade. The largest port in Oceania is the Port of Melbourne . According to ECLAC 's "Maritime and Logistics Profile of Latin America and the Caribbean", the largest ports in South America are the Port of Santos in Brazil, Cartagena in Colombia, Callao in Peru, Guayaquil in Ecuador, and

4895-428: The UK, both the ports of Liverpool and Southampton were once significant in the transatlantic passenger liner business. Once airliner traffic decimated that trade, both ports diversified to container cargo and cruise ships. Up until the 1950s the Port of London was a major international port on the River Thames , but changes in shipping and the use of containers and larger ships have led to its decline. Thamesport ,

4984-409: The Viking Age, and others were established in the 12th century. There are also remains of houses and villages and old forts from the late Iron Age. According to legend, the English bishop Henry baptised the first Finns into Christianity in 1150. However, the first Christian graves date from the 10th and 11th centuries, and the first archaeological evidence of a church dates from the 12th century. In

5073-477: The administrative center of the country, but for the last two hundred years has been surpassed by Helsinki . The city's identity stems from its status as the oldest city in Finland and the country's first capital. Originally, the word "Finland" referred only to the area around Turku (hence the title, " Finland Proper " for the region). Settlement in the Turku area is relatively recent, as the Southwestern Finland remained below sea level for an extended period due to

5162-420: The airport. The moderating impact of the sea helps oak maple and ash trees, which are quite rare elsewhere in Finland, to thrive by the areas along the shoreline and in the archipelago. The city of Turku has 205,949 inhabitants, making it the 6th most populous municipality in Finland. The Turku metropolitan area has a population of 315,227, and the larger Turku sub-region has a population of 351,200. This

5251-442: The building of Hotel Phoenix  [ fi ] that stood on corner of the Market Square was torn down to make way for a large, multistory apartment building in 1959. The building was significant both for its location and history: having stood on one of the most valuable lots in the city center since 1878, the building had, for example, served as the first main building of the University of Turku. Other buildings whose demolition

5340-439: The capital of the Grand Duchy. However, Turku lost its status as capital only three years later 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 government institutions were moved to Helsinki along with the Royal Academy of Turku , founded in 1640, which later became the University of Helsinki , thus consolidating Helsinki's position as

5429-416: The cities themselves. Even though modern ships tend to have bow-thrusters and stern-thrusters, many port authorities still require vessels to use pilots and tugboats for manoeuvering large ships in tight quarters. For instance, ships approaching the Belgian port of Antwerp , an inland port on the River Scheldt , are obliged to use Dutch pilots when navigating on that part of the estuary that belongs to

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5518-517: The city is 42.1, lower than the national average of 43.6. Population by mother tongue (2023) The city of Turku is officially bilingual , with both Finnish and Swedish as official languages. As of 2023 , the majority of the population - 160,008 people or 79.3% - spoke Finnish as their first language. There are 10,981 Swedish speakers in Turku, or 5.4% of the population. As English and Swedish are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies

5607-400: The city of Turku was declared the "Christmas City" of Finland. Turku has also been officially declared the Food Capital of Finland, as it is home to some of Finland's oldest and highest quality restaurants, as well as 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 is also known as

5696-412: The city was the site of the Åbo Bloodbath . After that, the 17th century began as more peaceful period for Turku, when the focus was mainly on emphasizing Turku's position as the center of a wide area by establishing numerous new administrative and school institutions. In 1640, the first university in Finland, the Royal Academy of Turku , was founded in Turku by order of Queen Christina . This project

5785-529: The city, are also sparsely populated and mostly contain summer residences, with the exception of some districts in Hirvensalo which are currently growing into upper-middle-class suburbs. Situated by the Baltic Sea and sheltered by the islands of the Archipelago Sea , Turku has a humid continental climate ( Köppen Dfb ). Like much of southern Finland, the city experiences warm summers, with temperatures ranging up to 30 °C (86 °F), and relatively cold winters with frequent snowfall. The warmest month of

5874-488: The city, both the body of architectural styles as well as the prevalent way of living have experienced significant changes in the 20th century. While having survived relatively intact throughout the years of war 1939–1945 , the city faced increasing changes in the 1950s and 1960s due to rising demands for apartments, the eagerness to rebuild, and most of all the new development of infrastructure (especially increased automobile traffic). The wooden one- to two-story houses that were

5963-518: The coming years. Most foreign-born citizens came from the former Soviet Union , Iraq , Estonia , Sweden, and the former Yugoslavia . In 2023, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 56.3% of the population of Turku. Other religious groups accounted for 3.3% of the population. 40.4% of the population had no religious affiliation. The Turku region boasts 22,000 enterprises, two universities and four polytechnics. The city has also business branches with local expertise in

6052-413: The cruise ship is in port, because off-going passengers debark their baggage and on-coming passengers board the ship in addition to all the supplies being loaded. Cruise home ports tend to have large passenger terminals to handle the large number of passengers passing through the port. The busiest cruise home port in the world is the Port of Miami , Florida . A port of call is an intermediate stop for

6141-402: The dominant mode of building in the city were mostly demolished in the 1950s and 1960s to both enable more efficient building and to ease vehicle traffic. This resulted in the destruction of buildings that were, in later decades, seen as beautiful and worth saving. Some individual buildings remain controversial to this day when it comes to their demolition in the decades after the war. For example,

6230-464: The driest month of the year, the figure is only 32 mm (1.3 in). The average air pressure at sea level is 101.2 kilopascals (29.9 inHg), with little variance throughout the year. Operational since 1955, the city's weather station is located at an altitude of 47 metres (154 feet) at Turku Airport . The weather in the city itself is affected by the proximity of the sea, so the wintertime temperatures are often milder than those measured at

6319-402: The global economy; 70% of global merchandise trade by value passes through a port. For this reason, ports are also often densely populated settlements that provide the labor for processing and handling goods and related services for the ports. Today by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world's largest and busiest ports , such as Singapore and

6408-509: The inheritable right to live at land owned by the crown ( å meant at or on in old Swedish, now på ). In Finnish , the genitive of Turku is Turun , meaning "of Turku". The Finnish names of organizations and institutes of Turku often begin with this word, as in Turun yliopisto for the University of Turku . Turku has a long history as Finland 's largest city and occasionally as

6497-644: The joint initiative of the king, the bishop, and the Dominican Convent of Saint Olaf  [ sv ] , which itself was founded in 1249. Turku Cathedral was consecrated in 1300. During the Middle Ages , Turku was the seat of the Bishop of Turku (a title later upgraded to Archbishop of Turku ), covering then the eastern half of the Kingdom of Sweden (most of the present-day Finland) until

6586-528: The new capital, Helsinki. The new city plan, based on a regular grid plan , was more spacious and fire-safe than before, and after the reconstruction, Turku was one of the most unified architecture in Europe. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for another twenty years. In the middle of the 19th century, Turku was, after Helsinki, the most important craft city in Finland, but the Industrial Revolution with steam and electric machines

6675-438: The new capital. Turku was Finland's most populous city until the late 1840s and remains the regional capital, an important business and cultural centre, and a port. Due to its long history , Turku has been the site of many important events and, as a former capital, has had a major influence on Finnish history . Together with Tallinn , the capital of Estonia , Turku has been named European Capital of Culture for 2011. In 1996,

6764-399: The north and south of the city were annexed during the mid-20th century, Turku is today shaped like an elongated pear. The city centre and most of the suburban areas lie in the middle, separated from the less densely populated northern rural areas by the Turku bypass , that forms part of European route E18 . Islands such as Ruissalo , Hirvensalo and Kakskerta , forming the southern part of

6853-541: The old Russian word also passed directly into the Finnish language and took the form turku . Today the word is only used in idioms , but already in the Middle Ages the word gradually came to mean the town name Turku. The Swedish name Åbo may be a simple combination of å ("river; creek; large stream") and bo ("dwelling"). There is however an old legal term called " åborätt  [ sv ] " (meaning roughly "right to live at"), which gave citizens (called "åbo")

6942-651: The port. There are several initiatives to decrease negative environmental impacts of ports. The World Port Sustainability Program points to all of the Sustainable Development Goals as potential ways of addressing port sustainability. These include SIMPYC , the World Ports Climate Initiative , the African Green Port Initiative , EcoPorts and Green Marine . The port of Shanghai

7031-461: The present day. The primary factor was the Great Fire in 1827, which decimated three quarters of the city. Turku Cathedral , constructed in the 13th century, is one of the oldest still-functioning buildings. It is also Finland's only medieval basilica church. Another surviving edifice from the medieval era is Turku Castle , which was established in the 1280s and underwent several expansions in

7120-417: The river. The eastern side, where Turku Cathedral is located, is the older and original centre. It is popularly known as täl pual jokke ("this side of the river"). The western side, where Turku Castle is located, is the newer part. It is called tois pual jokke ("the other side of the river"). In modern times, both banks of the Aura River are equally the centre of the city . There are ten bridges over

7209-485: The summer theatres, Samppalinna and Vartiovuori. Turku is a music hub that provides a variety of musical experiences. The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra is the oldest ensemble in Finland, tracing its origins to the establishment of the Turun Soitannollinen Seura in 1790. The orchestra has a reputation for its classical repertoire and frequently conducts concerts throughout Finland. Turku boasts

7298-537: The terminus of the Alaska Pipeline owe their very existence to being ice-free ports. The Baltic Sea and similar areas have ports available year-round beginning in the 20th century thanks to icebreakers , but earlier access problems prompted Russia to expand its territory to the Black Sea . A dry port is an inland intermodal terminal directly connected by road or rail to a seaport and operating as

7387-414: The water column, and can stir up pollutants captured in the sediments. Invasive species are often spread by the bilge water and species attached to the hulls of ships. It is estimated that there are over 7000 invasive species transported in bilge water around the world on a daily basis Invasive species can have direct or indirect interactions with native sea life. Direct interaction such as predation,

7476-766: The world's ports have somewhat embedded technology, if not for full leadership. However, thanks to global government initiatives and exponential growth in maritime trade, the number of intelligent ports has gradually increased. A report by business intelligence provider Visiongain assessed that Smart Ports Market spending would reach $ 1.5 bn in 2019. Ports and their operation are often a cause of environmental issues, such as sediment contamination and spills from ships and are susceptible to larger environmental issues, such as human caused climate change and its effects. Every year 100 million cubic metres of marine sediment are dredged to improve waterways around ports. Dredging, in its practice, disturbs local ecosystems, brings sediments into

7565-447: The year is July, with an average temperature of 17.5 °C (64 °F), whereas the coldest month is February. The average year-round temperature is around 6.0 °C (43 °F). Winter usually starts in early December, and spring in late March. Precipitation in Turku averages 720 mm (28.3 in) a year. The rainiest month of the year is August, when the city receives on average 80 mm (3.1 in) of rainfall. In April,

7654-648: Was also supported by Count Per Brahe , the Governor General of Finland , and Isaacus Rothovius , the Bishop of Turku. Turku was also the meeting place for the States of Finland in 1676. After the Finnish War , Sweden ceded Finland to Imperial Russia at the Treaty of Fredrikshamn in 1809. There was no resistance of any kind in Turku when the Russians marched into the city in October 1809 in connection with

7743-407: Was experienced in Turku only around 1900. The First World War provided a boost to the city's industry, as the export difficulties affected the wood industry , which Turku didn't have much of, and it was easy to get much-needed raw materials from neutral Sweden. In 1918, a new university, the Åbo Akademi – the only Swedish-language university in Finland – was founded in Turku. Two years later,

7832-549: Was seen as scandalous, either already at the time of action or proved to be so in later years, include The Nobel House  [ fi ] (subject of the very first photograph ever taken in Finland) and the building of Old Hotel Börs which was built in jugendstil in 1909 by Frithiof Strandell  [ fi ] . Situated at the mouth of the Aura River in the south-western corner of Finland, Turku covers an area of 245 square kilometres (95 sq mi) on both banks of

7921-500: Was too far from Russia and too aligned with Sweden to serve as the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland . The change officially took place in 1812. The government offices that remained in Turku were finally moved to the new capital after the Great Fire of Turku , which destroyed a large portion of the city in 1827. After the fire, a new and safer city plan was drawn up by German architect Carl Ludvig Engel , who had also designed

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