CATHEDRAL
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The oldest building in the city of Turku is the seat of the evangelical archbishopric. Its construction, begun in 1280, was not completed until 200 years later. Originally it was built only of wood. For centuries it was one of the most important places of northern Christianity, together with Lund, Nidaros and Roskilde. At the time, it radiated on the terra incognita that was, beyond Turku, the immense Finnish territory covered with lakes and forests: from Lapland to the Russian Orthodox border. The cathedral houses a monument to the Finnish reformer and Luther disciple Michael Agricola, who later became Bishop of Turku. It was he who made Finnish a written language when it was only spoken. Today the organ concerts are impressive, don't hesitate to ask at the tourist office for the dates. The whole cathedral quarter is a magnificent neoclassical ensemble. The most imposing of its buildings, the former Academy, has a superb village hall with granite columns. The Turku Academy was for a long time the only relay of European humanism in Finland, until the change of capital in 1812 on the orders of the Russian Tsar Alexander I. From the heights of the city, there is a beautiful view of the Aurajoki River and its banks, which border the Sibelius Museum, the cultural centre, the library and the municipal theatre. The cathedral is considered one of the most remarkable historical monuments of the country.
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