If you want to experience the ultimate Christmas atmosphere in Finland, you can certainly go to Lapland and meet Santa Claus, but it is not necessary to travel that far up north to find the festive spirit. Porvoo, which is a city located only about 50 km east of Helsinki, has got not only that but also a long and fascinating history that is very much alive and present in its streets today.
The story of Porvoo began in the 13th century; however, only a century later it got the official status of a city.1 Its location and city plan makes it a very typical Medieval city – established next to a river and in a close proximity to the open sea, Porvoo became a transit point through which various goods would travel from Finland to the Central Europe and vice versa.2 The cityscape is dominated by the Porvoo Church, which also dates from the 13th century and, like many other Medieval churches, is built on a hill. Since Porvoo is a billingual city with almost half of its population being native Swedish speakers, many events and messes in the Porvoo Church (or Porvoo Cathedral since 1723) are held in Swedish, while another smaller church right next to it is mainly used by the Finnish speaking locals.3
Porvoo is perhaps best recognised by the dark red wooden dwellings built along the riverside. Nevertheless, the wooden architecture that can be found further inside the city is no less exceptional. Most of these buildings have a similar rectangular shape and size, but still there are no two identical houses in this town. The dwellings are easy to tell apart mainly because of their bright colours which rarely repeat twice in the exact same shade. Not only is this a practical solution, but it also creates a lot more positive and uplifting atmosphere which is essential in a place where for many months the daylight is present for nearly just 6 hours a day.
In many ways Porvoo resembles a small-scale version of Gamla Stan – the Old Town in Stockholm, which is not that surprising since the city was established during the time when Finland was a part of the Kingdom of Sweden and the influence of Swedish culture in this area remained very noticeable throughout the following centuries.
The wooden houses in Porvoo are a lot more ornamented compared to, for example, some of the wooden districts in Helsinki or the little towns across Lapland. Sophisticated lantern designs, ornamental shop signs, delicate door decors – small details like that which give a very unique and distinguishable character to every building, are visible everywhere. Although it can be easy to go over the top with such decorations, in this case they sort of emphasise the human scale which without a doubt dominates the place and which, again, is essential in this rather harsh environment for it contrasts with the roughness and wilderness and makes you feel more welcome.
Another essential element of any Medieval city is the main square, which is also present in Porvoo. Today most of the buildings around this square accommodate museums and small shops which offer stunning hand-made designs. Among these buildings is also the old Town Hall which, being one of the only two remaining 18th-century town halls in Finland, is very unique.4 The square itself is quite large for a small old town like this. While it gives you a sense of enclosure, it does not make you feel disoriented or trapped (as some urban places like this tend to do) because of the nature of the surrounding landscape and the low wooden buildings which allow you to see the hills and other settlements in the distance.
Needless to say, Porvoo is much more than just the old town, although that is perhaps the most exciting part of the city. The newer part of Porvoo appears a lot more similar to Helsinki, with the buildings being bold, monumental, and finished using much more neutral colours. It is the zone which connects the old and the new part of the town that is particularly interesting. Buildings that represent Functionalism and Classicism are bordering the old wooden Porvoo. Even though they are a lot heavier and more formal in their appearance, they respect their older neighbours and continue some of the already established stylistic patterns, becoming an integrated part of the colourful cityscape. Even the industrial red brick factories, located next to the river, seem to fit very well in this historical environment because, just like the wooden buildings, they fully embrace the bold colours and emphasise their materiality with the exposed surfaces. This area somehow reduces the contrast between the old and the new Porvoo, making the transition less noticeable while strengthening the sense of unity between all these parts.
Porvoo is most definitely a great place to visit any time of the year. It is not only the historical structures that are worth the attention but also some of the very recent projects as well as the currently ongoing developments on the west side of the river. The already completed residential building complex by Tuomas Siitonen right next to the river proves that the new Porvoo is not interested in becoming the exhibition space for shiny postmodernist experiments. Instead, it has chosen to establish a rational and functional (but still contemporary!) environment that responds to the buildings on the opposite side of the river and continues the same traditions.
1.”History of Porvoo,” Aija Sorvali, accessed 30 November 2015. http://www.porvoo.fi/en/history
2. ”History of Porvoo”.
3. ”Porvoo Cathedral and the Small Church,” Muuka, accessed 30 November 2015. http://www.muuka.com/finnishpumpkin/churches/p/cepop/church_cepop.html
4. ”History of the Buildings Housing the Museums,” Porvoo Museum, accessed 30 November 2015. http://www.porvoonmuseo.fi/oldMuseum.php?lang=ENGLISH
thenorthernwandererblog.wordpress.com 