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Luostarinmäki is the perfect destination for families: the houses and workshops tickle the imagination and take you on a time travel to days long gone. A visit to this open-air museum is a day in one of Turku’s finest oases in the middle of the city. Welcome to stroll along the old alleys and streets of Turku!
Learn more listening to our audioguide
Listen to stories of Luostarinmäki based on the lives of historical people who once lived here. The stories are based on historical documents about these inhabitants.
Luostarinmäki Museum Quarter invites you to experience town life in bygone times and the history of Luostarinmäki. The museum offers lots to see for visitors of all ages.
The homes and workshops tell the stories of lives and work in Luostarinmäki and Turku in different times. We take on the perspective of inhabitants from different eras. In summer, you will meet craftsmen in the workshops and hosts in their daily chores.
In the summertime geranium and hot water plants grow on the windowsills in Luostarinmäki. In the flower beds you can find traditional Finnish perennial plants such as bleeding hearts, lychnis, columbine, common soapwort and various lilies.
You can still see remnants of the old rural self-sufficient lifestyle in the courtyards. There are useful plants still growing in the gardens such as potatoes, turnips, spices and herbs including horseradish and chives. You can also admire berry bushes and apple trees planted by former inhabitants on the museum grounds.
In 1827, after the Great Fire, architect C.L. Engel drafted a new city plan for Turku. The new city plan meant that the tightly packed houses of Luostarinmäki would be taken down, and in the beginning of the 1900s the city began to claim plots in the area. Some of the area’s oldest buildings were already making way for Sirkkalankatu street. At the same time, there was an ongoing debate on the value of Luostarinmäki as the embodiment of the pre-fire cityscape and life in Turku.
According to records, the very first residents of Luostarinmäki in the 1700s included a cobbler, sailors, plank carriers, packers and guards, along with their families. In the 1800s, many carpenters moved to the quarter. Their trade and skills enabled them to build their own house. Homeowners also built rooms for tenants to earn some extra income.
Luostarinmäki is the only continuous district of wooden houses that escaped the Great Fire of 1827 and has survived into our time. The houses, still standing in their original building sites, are more than 200 years old. Luostarinmäki used to be on the edge of town, where land was cheaper and more affordable to the craftsmen of lesser means who oftentimes moved here from the countryside. Many still upkept rural forms of life, resembling subsistence economy.
Visit Luostarinmäki Museum Shop next to the main gate. Here you will find unique gifts and souvenirs. The hand made products by the craftsmen working in the museum are also available here. Items range from traditional pottery to jewellery crafted by the silversmith.
The huckster’s is a mid-19th century style shop located in the museum area. Sweets wrapped in paper cones are a must!
Luostarinmäki is located on a stony slope on the south side of Vartiovuori Hill. Grounds are uneven and rough. There are steps leading to the interiors, and doorways are narrow. We ask wheelchair users to please visit the museum with a personal assistant if possible.
There are two disabled parking spots next to the museum gate.
Luostarinmäki is an open-air museum neighbouring Vartiovuori Park near the centre of Turku. The museum consists of 14 courtyards with 80 interiors and five themed exhibitions.
The museum has a post office, where visitors may send postcards and letters all around the world. The museum shops have a large selection of handicrafts, books, sweets and high quality souvenirs.
Upon arrival, visitors will be provided with a map of the museum area.
Do you want to organize a street performance? Or book a place, for example, to sell handicrafts? Turku is offering a new way to use urban spaces by Event Carpets: specific areas marked on the pavement.
There are three bookable Event Carpet- spaces:
Turku`s common Cultural Promise: A Time of Art and Culture! is a strategic and visionary outlook for the development of culture in Turku until 2029. The cultural promise serves as the basis for a Cultural spearhead project.
Today, cycling is as important a mode of travel in Turku as public transport. More than 90 % of Turku residents live less than a 30-minute bike ride from the Market Square. The importance on cycling will be further emphasized in the congested urban transport of the future. The ecology and health benefits of cycling area also a key motive for cycling.
The City of Turku encourages cycling by providing a wide range of services for cyclists.
Turku offers plenty of interesting and convenient cycling routes all year round for home-to-work travelers, hikers and tourist alike. In Turku, you can cycle both in urban areas and in environments close to the nature. Archipelago routes are also easily accessible.
Year-round cycling is encouraged by, among other things, the approximately 12-kilometer-long winter cycling route, which is in the center of Turku and in the Kupittaa area. Thanks to brush salting, the route is also safe in the winter.
Walking is one of the most important forms of travel in the urban area. Each of us is a walker at some point of our travels.
The advantage of walking is the calm pace and the opportunity to explore the surroundings while walking. Increasing the use of sustainable modes of transport such as walking, and cycling will also play an important role in achieving Turku`s climate goals.
The River Harbour Festival marks the start of a summer bursting with maritime events in Turku!
Here you can find the program for the River Harbour Festival 2022. Next years program will be published closer to the event.
Friday 20 May
Maritime safety event
9:00–15:00
Varvintori Square
The two webcams placed in the Cathedral’s towers show the cityscape facing west and south from the building. Activate the live stream by clicking the picture below. You can change the camera and the angle by using the buttons in the picture. The delay in turning the camera can be tens of seconds, so please be patient.
Courses in May 2024
Pottery Wheel Workshop for beginners
In this course you'll learn the basics of pottery wheel work. After this course you can continue working in open workshops.
Is it possible that new buildings could come to the area in the future? The Old Town as a term is reminiscent of a densely built environment, unlike the current, rather spacious one. If there were to come new construction in the area, it would be good to respect the old ones.
Präkäämö and Clay Präkäämö
Präkäämö on Thursdays 14-18
Clay Präkäämö on Thursdays 14-16
Turku recreational model groups in Vimma
Vimma is involved in a national project aimed at supporting equal recreational opportunities for primary and secondary school students.
Groups are completely free of charge and will continue to operate during the spring season. You can register to the groups, if there is enough room.
The groups are for children and young people in Turku.
Recreational groups serve a small snack.
All groups are for beginners, no prior knowledge of the topics is required.
The winter holiday event
The winter holiday at the Youth Art and Activity Centre Vimma will be spent 19-23.2.2024 with crafts, fun activities and music.
LomaPräkäämö
In the LomaPräkäämö you can relax by making jewellery, knitting cute woollen cuddly toys and handmade paper and notebooks. LomaPräkäämö is free of charge and aimed at 10-18 year olds.
Sunday in Vimma
Art and time together
Sunday in Vimma invites you to spend a relaxed Sunday doing art and things together.
At the Event of the Day, which takes place once a month, the agenda includes art workshops and a changing program organized by young people with their own event and activity team, i.e., Ta & to.
The next Sunday in Vimma 2.10., 6.11. and 4.12.
Sunday together, all ages are welcome