Naantali

The town grew up around Vallis gratiae, a medieval Brigittine convent whose church still dominates the skyline, chartered by King Christopher of Bavaria in 1443. Trading rights came with the convent and pilgrims came with it too. When Sweden turned Protestant the convent closed and the town fell into a two-century depression, during which it became known for knitted stockings, a craft carried over from the nuns. A spa opened at Cape Kalevanniemi in 1863 and made it a holiday town; since 1922 the Kultaranta estate has been the President’s official summer residence.