Museum sights in Turku
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A
Turun Taidemuseo
The excellent Turku Art Museum is a striking granite building with elaborately carved pilasters and conical turrets. Much of the art is modern, though the Victor Westerholm offers Finnish landscapes and Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s depictions of the Kalevala are always jaw-dropping. Gunnar Berndtson’s Kesä (Summer) is an idyllic depiction of sunny Suomi while RW Ekman’s The Muses is transcendent Romantic.
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B
Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum
The name 'handicrafts museum' gives little indication of how fascinating this open-air museum really is. It is made up of the only surviving 18th-century area of this medieval town - Turku has been razed by fire 30 times - and all the buildings are still in their original locations, unlike most Finnish open-air museums where the buildings are moved from elsewhere, or re-created.
Carpenters, stonemasons, jewellers and other workers built homes and shops in the area, beginning in 1779. When the great fire of 1827 destroyed most of Turku, Luostarinmäki neighbourhood was one of the few that survived.
Since 1940 it has served as a museum, but doesn't feel like one: it's more…
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C
Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova
This pair of museums under one roof unites art and archaeology. Digging continues in the museum and along the Aurajoki, and excavations of the Convent Quarter have created an engaging display of 15th-century artefacts in the Aboa Vetus. Back in the present, Ars Nova showcases the best of contemporary art with temporary exhibitions, which peak around the Turku Biennaali, a themed show in summer in odd years. The new Oma Tila (Our Own S) is accumulating work from local artists and craftspeople, especially work produced as part of their own projects. Free guided tours offer insights into both museums.
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D
Museum Ships
Outside the Forum Marinum, anchored in the river, are four museum ships which you can climb aboard and poke around in, above and below deck.
The WWII mine layer Keihässalmi and the corvette Karjala give an insight into wartime conditions at sea; the beautiful three-masted barque Sigyn, originally launched from Göteborg in 1887, has well preserved cabins; and the impressive 1902 sailing ship Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland), which was built in France, was used by the Finnish Navy during WWII as a mother ship for submarines and as a hospital.
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E
Forum Marinum
Set back from the river, this excellent maritime museum has a permanent exhibition in an old granary. It’s a comprehensive look at different aspects of ships and shipping, from scale models to full-size vessels. Kid-friendly highlights include the hydrocopter, WWII torpedoes and multimedia displays. The newer building opposite has regular exhibitions, as well as several vessels and a cabin from a luxury cruise-liner, as many were built in Turku.
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F
Sibelius Museum
Near the cathedral, Sibelius Museum displays some 350 musical instruments from across Finland and memorabilia of the famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. It is the most extensive musical museum in Finland. You can listen to Sibelius’ music on scratchy record or, better still, attend a Wednesday evening concert (from September to May, less often in summer) which showcases jazz, folk, rock and classical performers from around the country.
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G
Pharmacy Museum
On the riverfront, Qwensel House is Turku’s oldest, built around 1700. It houses the small Pharmacy Museum with an old laboratorium featuring medicinal herbs, 18th-century ‘Gustavian’ (Swedish) furnishings and an exhibition of bottles and other pharmacy supplies.
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H
Ett Hem Museum
Ett Hem Museum preserves a wealthy turn-of-the-20th-century home designed by CL Engel, with furniture of various styles, and works by famous painters Albert Edelfelt and Helene Schjerfbeck.
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Turku Cathedral Museum
The cathedral museum has models showing stages of the cathedral’s construction from the 14th century, as well as medieval sculptures and religious paraphernalia.
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J
Turku Biological Museum
In a beautiful building, the Turku Biological Museum features much of Finland’s wildlife represented in realistic dioramas.
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