Turku Castle

The largest surviving medieval building in Finland, begun around 1280 by Swedes as a military outpost on the bank of the Aura, and, with the cathedral, one of the two oldest buildings in the country still in use. It ran the region then called Österland as fortress and administrative centre, stood sieges, and was drawn into the power struggles of Sweden and the Kalmar Union. Its height came in the mid-sixteenth century under Duke John of Finland and Catherine Jagellon. It is now Finland’s most visited museum, taking well over 100,000 people a year.