🌟🎄 Merry Christmas / Vrolijk Kerstfeest / Hyvää Joulua / God Jul 🎄🌟

Welcome to the Christmas City of Finland, Turku (Åbo) and also the oldest City in Finland.
Founded in the 13th century and for 600 years the most important and most populated city in the country.
In 1996 Turku was declared the official city of Christmas in Finland due to a traditional ritual going back to the 14th century, annually on Christmas Eve, the Christmas Peace is proclaimed to spend the festive period in harmony, to threaten offenders with harsh punishments and to wish all a merry Christmas.
Originally, the word “Finland” referred only to the area around Turku.

The city is situated in the southwestern corner of Finland, being a main seaport for travelers going to Stockholm and Mariehamn.
The Aura River flows right in the middle of the city before discharging into the Baltic Sea.

After the Finnish War (1808 – 1809), Turku briefly became the capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1812, after which Helsinki became the capital.
As wood was the main element for housing, massive fires plagued the city over the centuries.
A total of 31 city fires in its history, of which the biggest was “The Great Fire of Turku” in 1827, over 11.000 people became homeless.
Being officially declared the Food Capital of Finland, due to Finland’s oldest and high-qualited restaurants and a historically famous fish market, it’s the “Paris of Finland”.
Turku ostensibly has a long-standing mutual feud with the city of Tampere for the title of being the “second grand city of Finland” after Helsinki.

The distance between Turku and Helsinki is approximately 170 km and can be reached by car within 2 hours.

I wish you a pleasant walk, enjoy the scenery and Christmas lighting. Stay positive, be caring but most of all, take care of yourself.
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