Finnish towns

Looking back over the blogs and photos of Finland I realise I need to convey that the Finns do have some towns.

Below is a collection of building photos taken at different times in different places to give you a feel for what they are like.

This first set of pictures is from the Isokyro church. Built in 1304 it has 7 ft thick walls and an 80 ft steep shingle roof. Inside there are incredible renaissance paintings all over the walls which the dean had painted at his own expense in 1560.

Best of all the church is still used as a church even though it has no electric lights and the furnishings have basically never been upgraded. They just mike up an old wooden pulpit with peeling paint and timber rot. The effect is rather magnificent.

The nearby town of Vaasa is on the sea. However a combination of factors has meant that there is now an old Vaasa (Vanha Vaasa) and a new Vaasa. One factor is that the land area is increasing as the land (naturally) reclaims sea area each year. The other is the steady destruction by fire, and by the Russians.

The Russians have had a fair old crack at the Finns and the town of Vaasa has had a string of Russian names over the years. Eventually the Finns appealed to England to help them oust the Russians but by then the English had signed an agreement with the Russians against the Germans at the start of WW2.

So the Finns appealed to the Germans to get rid of the Russians and found themselves on Hitlers side in the war - but only until the Russians were gone from Finland. The minute they had ousted the Russians they wanted nothing more to do with the Germans. But wouldn’t you know it – the Germans wouldn’t leave.

In a strange wist of fate the Russians then offered the Finns a pact saying that they wouldn’t invade Finland again - if only the Finns would get rid of the Germans! Yi yi yi

Anyway – I digress. The next few pics are buildings in Vaasa and Vanha Vaasa. And I just couldn’t help including the old shed because they are simply everywhere and still being constructed in the same style.

When we left Orismala for Helsinki we decided it would be nice to drive down the coastal route and spend a few hours in Turku on the way. It was bitterly cold and wet so no coast was spotted but Turku has some interesting buildings (below) and a lovely river aspect to it. And of course being a proper city has a castle. Note that the Finns always used square towers and the early ones like this were wider at the bottom than the top.