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Parks and other green areas are maintained according to the national park maintenance classifications. The maintenance classification of a park is determined by the area’s location and purpose of use. Parks in the City Centre are maintained more intensively.
Turku City parks are characterized by diversity. Diverse natural conditions of the parks ensure functional green corridors and ecological connectivity. This is why a park can often have areas with different maintenance levels. For example, one part of a park may be classified as a landscape meadow and another as a park forest.
Turku is known as a green city and as the birthplace of the country’s gardening culture. The first urban trees in the country were planted in Turku, which is why it is possible to see exceptionally large and old trees, for example, by the banks of the River Aura and around the Cathedral. Even today the trees in the parks and by the streets make the city into a comfortable and humane place for its residents as well as visitors.
Vartiovuorenpuisto is one of the oldest and, considering the landscape and cultural history, also one of the most valuable urban parks in the country. In the beginning of the 1800s Vartiovuori was only barren rocks, just like all other hills in Turku. During the centuries the rocks had been quarried for stone for the construction of the city and the trees growing on the hill had been chopped for firewood.
The Sports Park is an urban park that combines sports and exercise activities, and where the fields and courts of various sports have been situated in a parklike and nowadays even forestlike environment.
The park and its functions can be divided into several sections: the Paavo Nurmi Stadium and its immediate surroundings form the functional centre and heart of the park, from which several routes run to the fields and courts on the edges of the park.
The history of the park currently known as Tähkäpuisto dates back to the 1530s when Gustav I of Sweden gave an order that the area should be made a recreation area for the middle class. The oldest trees in the area are from the collections of the Swedish gardening school, which operated in the area until 1968. After the school ceased operations the area was left as wasteland, until the construction of the current park was started in the 1980s. Tähkäpuisto was inaugurated on Turku Day in 1982.
Tuomiokirkonpuisto is one of the oldest parks in Turku. Its construction began already in 1833 when it was decided that chestnuts, lindens, and maples would be planted on the area destroyed by the Great Fire of Turku. The construction of parks and squares had a significant role in improving fire safety. The park was renovated between 1885 and 1887 based on the plan by City Gardener Oscar Rudolf Gauffin. At that time, a smallish semicircle-shaped square facing the cathedral, and the old straight-lined passageways were replaced with ones that were noticeably curvilinear.
Puolalanmäki is one of the most significant constructed environments in Turku City Centre. Originally founded as a scenic park, the panoramas that opened from the Puolalanmäki park have closed for good due to the blocks of flats built around it.
One of the oldest parks in Turku is Porthaninpuisto, which is located next to the Old Great Square. The first construction work in the park was finished in 1835. Nils Henrik Pinello had a pavilion built in the middle of the western park in the area which was then called Nikolaintori. It was opened in June 1849, but it had to be moved to the side when the statue of Henrik Gabriel Porthan was erected on the same spot. Both Pinella and the Porthan monument – the first public sculpture in Finland – shaped the nature of the park significantly.
Most of the Turku City green areas are different meadows and fields, altogether around 2,500 hectares. These areas are administered by the Public Utility Property Management.
Mannerheiminpuisto is a park the size of an entire block located in the City Centre. The park is bordered by Koulukatu, Puutarhakatu, Puistokatu, and Rauhankatu. The park was named after C.G.E. Mannerheim and a statue representing Mannerheim is located there. The statue of Mannerheim is a bronze bust designed by sculptor Veikko Leppänen and architect Aarne Ehojoki. The statue was unveiled in 1994, fifty years after Mannerheim was elected president. Opposite the statue and next to the park is St Michael’s Church.
Lönnrotinpuisto is located in the Turku City Centre between Aninkaistenkatu, Eerikinkatu, and the Aura River.
In 1900 City Gardener Mauritz Hammarberg suggested that a park should be built around Turku Castle, since it was the first thing a person coming from the sea would notice. An open air museum with demotic buildings such as granaries was built in 1906. As soon as the park was finished it turned out to be inadequate, so Hammarberg’s follower, landscape architect Söderberg, made a plan in 1907 for the expansion of Linnanpuisto.
Kupittaanpuisto is the largest urban park in Finland, and it has capacity for many kinds of activities for the whole family. In addition to the large green areas in Kupittaanpuisto, there are also a bird park, a traffic park for children, the Adventure Park, a pavilion restaurant, an outdoor swimming arena, and a sports hall.
Ingegerdinpuisto is located in the Räntämäki district, surrounded by one-family houses. The plan for Ingegerdinpuisto was drawn up by Turku City Planner Irma Rytkölä in 1990.
The first public urban parks were built in the 19th century with comfort, recreation, and merry-making in mind. One of the oldest parks in Turku is Brahenpuisto, which is located next to Turku Cathedral. The first ‘horti’ were created in the area already in the latter half of the 16th century. Planting of the park started after the Great Fire of Turku in 1833, and Brahenpuisto was renovated and expanded in 1886-1888. The park got its characteristic monument, the statue of Per Brahe by sculptor Walter Runeberg, in 1888.
Asemanpuisto, aka Rautatientori, is a park located in front of the Turku Central Railway Station. Asemanpuisto, together with the Central Railway Station area, belong to the National Board of Antiquities’ nationally significant constructed cultural environments.
Kummeli, Poiju, Reimari, Pooki
(10 people / cabin)
- per cabin: 3 bunk beds, a loft, mattresses, pillows and blankets – bring your own bedlinens!
- a fridge, a coffee maker, a hotplate, a dining set
- cleaning utensils and detergents
- an outdoor water supply point
Please note!
Upstairs:
- 2 bedrooms (2+4), blankets and pillows; bring your own bedlinens!
- the mini-kitchen has a fridge, a hotplate, a microwave oven, a coffee maker, dishes and cooking utensils
- a toilet and a shower
Downstairs:
- office with a copier, computer and fax
- toilet
- 2 electric saunas
Sauna facilities:
- dressing rooms and shower facilities for 12 people
- 13 toilets
- 2 drying rooms
Photos:
- a dining room with institutional kitchen equipment for 200 people
- 6 toilets, 1 accessible toilet
- a TV, a VCR, a stereo, a central radio, AV equipment (no computer)
- a piano, a billiard table
- cleaning utensils and detergents
- can be used as a meeting room
Please note! no accommodation
3 dining canopies next to Majakka, 100 people/canopy Also a kitchen canopy for provisioning large camps
Photos:
Kutteri (208 m2) is the newest building in Ahtela and is excellent for e.g. events of work or recreation groups.
The building by the sea is equipped with:
- 3 toilets (1 accessible toilet)
- an electric sauna
- a dressing room
- a kitchen
- a meeting room for 40 people
- a fireplace
- a video projector
- a large balcony for approximately 20 people
Kompassi has the following equipment:
- Accommodation for 30 people (2 bedrooms) (mattresses, blankets and pillows – bring your own bedlinens!)
- Automatic oil heating in the cabin
- An electric cooker, a fridge-freezer, a microwave oven, a coffee maker, a toaster, dishes and cooking utensils
- A wood-heated sauna, 3 showers,3 toilets, a dressing room, a washroom, toilets, an accessible toilet, a drying cabinet
- A fireplace and a piano in the cabin
- Cleaning utensils and detergents
See the floor plan (pdf, in Finnish):
The cabin has:
- Accommodation for 16 people in the loft
- Mattresses, blankets and pillows - bring your own bedlinens!
- Electric heating
- Kitchen
- An electric cooker and a wood range
- A fridge-freezer
- A microwave oven
- A coffee maker
- Dishes and cooking utensils
- A wood-heated sauna, 2 showers, a washroom, 3 toilets, a dressing room
- A drying cabinet and a washing room
- Cleaning utensils and detergents
Tippsund youth campground is located in Taivassalo by the sea. The area is well suited for camps, school trips and education activities.
There are 8 cabins in the area with accommodation for 6 persons in each, so there are mattresses, blankets and pillows (but no bedlinens!) for 48 people altogether.
Please note!
Vienola campground is owned by the City of Turku and located in Rymättylä, Naantali, by the sea. The size of the area is 4.8 hectares. The cabin (82 m²) can accommodate 18 people.
In addition, there is a beach kitchen and a roofed place for diners in the area. There are also two brews in the area. Vienola is particularly well suited for arranging camp schools and smaller parties as well as for friends to spend the weekend in. The camp site Vienola cannot be reserved from 1 Sebtember to 31 December 2019 because the accommodation premises are being renovated.