Porvoo (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈporʋoː];Swedish:Borgå[ˈborːɡo]ⓘ;Latin:Borgoa) is acity inFinland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on theGulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of theUusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately 52,000, while thesub-region has a population of approximately 60,000. It is the 19th most populousmunicipality in Finland, and the 15th most populousurban area in the country.
Porvoo is located on the southern coast of Finland, approximately 35 kilometres (22 mi) east of the city border ofHelsinki and about 50 kilometres (30 mi) from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the sixmedieval towns of Finland, along withTurku,Ulvila,Rauma,Naantali andVyborg, and is first mentioned as a city in texts from the 14th century. Porvoo is the seat of the Swedish-speakingDiocese of Borgå of theEvangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Porvoo briefly served as the capital of the formerEastern Uusimaa region.[8]
Porvoo Old Town (Finnish:Porvoon vanhakaupunki;Swedish:Borgå gamla stan) is a popular tourist destination,[9] known for its well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings, and the 15th-centuryPorvoo Cathedral. The Old Town and thePorvoonjoki River Valley are recognized as, together, one of theNational landscapes of Finland.[10]
Porvoo is abilingual municipality withFinnish andSwedish as its official languages. The population consists of64% Finnish speakers,28% Swedish speakers, and8% speakers of other languages.
Thetown received its name from a Swedishmedieval fortress near the riverPorvoonjoki, which flows through the town. The namePorvoo is the Fennicised version of the Swedish nameBorgå, which is derived fromborg, meaning "castle" andå, "river".[11]
The coat of arms of Porvoo, based on the medieval seal of the city, is "Azure [blue], a tulip-shaped letter C argent [silver]." The main object in the arms has been interpreted as either a fire iron or the letter C, referring to the Latin word for "castle" (Latin:castrum). A version of the arms redrawn byGustaf von Numers was approved for official use by the Porvoo City Council on March 23, 1960, and theMinistry of the Interior confirmed the use of the coat of arms on June 1 the same year.[12][13]
The area of Porvoo has been inhabited since theStone Age.[14] In prehistoric times, the riverPorvoonjoki was a route of commerce for Finnish tribalTavastians who primarily inhabited the inland regions. The Tavastians also had some permanent settlements in the area, such as the village of Hattula (later Strömsberg), which was named after an inland Tavastian village. The original name of the river Porvoonjoki was possiblyKukinjoki. The name derives from the name of the trade vesselcog which was a common merchant ship in the Baltic Sea in medieval times. The early center of the area wasSaksala, meaning "the place of theGermans", and deriving from the merchants who were trading in Saksala.[15][16]
Porvoo was colonised bySwedes in the 13th and 14th centuries after the so-calledSecond Crusade against Tavastians in 1249–1250. The colonisation was led by the Catholic Church and the kingdom of Sweden. The colonists originated fromSvealand, and were provided with seeds, cattle and, tax exemption for four years.[16]
The oldest known written mentions of Porvoo are from the early 14th century. In circa 1380, Porvoo became the third town in Finland to be granted officialtown rights, afterTurku in 1229 andUlvila in 1365.[2] However, it is also claimed to have been founded as early as 1347, which would make it the second oldest after Turku.[1] Due to land rise and loss of shipping access, Ulvila lost town rights to nearbyPori in 1558.[2]
WhenSweden lost the city ofVyborg to Russia in 1721, theepiscopal see was moved to Porvoo in 1723.[17][18] At this time, Porvoo was the second largest city in Finland.
In 1760, roughly two-thirds of all buildings in Porvoo burned to the ground in aconflagration. During rebuilding, the city planning wasn't altered, instead new buildings were built upon the existing medieval foundations.
ThePorvoo Common Statement is a report issued at the conclusion of theological conversations by official representatives of four Anglican churches and eight Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches in 1989–1992. It established thePorvoo Communion, so named after thePorvoo Cathedral where theEucharist was celebrated on the final Sunday of the conversations leading to the Statement.
The old city of Porvoo was formally disestablished and the new city of Porvoo founded in 1997, when the city of Porvoo and therural municipality of Porvoo were consolidated.[19]
ThePorvoo Cathedral prior to the fire in May 2006Old woodenwarehouses alongside the Porvoo River is one of the famous sights of town.[20][21]
The town is famed for its "Old Town" (Vanhakaupunki inFinnish,Gamla Stan inSwedish), a dense medieval street pattern with predominantly wooden houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Old Town came close to being demolished in the 19th century by a new urban plan for the city, but the plan was canceled due to a popular resistance headed by CountLouis Sparre. With the need for growth, a plan was envisioned for a new town built adjacent to the Old Town, following a grid plan, but with houses also built of wood.Jokikatu (located eastside of the Porvoonjoki River) is one of Porvoo'spedestrian streets, and like the other similar streets of the Old Town, it also includes a variety ofrestaurants,coffeehouses,antique shops and other stores.[22]
The central point of the old town is the medieval, stone and brickPorvoo Cathedral. The cathedral gave its name to thePorvoo Communion, an inter-church agreement between a number ofAnglican andLutherandenominations. The cathedral is reminiscent of similarly aged churches across Finland, such as theChurch of St. Lawrence, Vantaa, as they were designed by the same person, the anonymous German architectPernajan mestari. TheDiocese of Borgå that unites the Swedish speaking lutheran congregations, resides here. The cathedral has burned down 5 times.[23] The latest fire happened on 29 May 2006; the roof was totally destroyed but the interior is largely intact. A drunken youth had started a fire at the church, unaware of recent tar work and nearby tar containers, accidentally causing a largeconflagration. He was later sentenced to a short prison term and restitutions of 4.3 million euro.[24]
The Old Town is a significant source of tourism in the area. Visitors to the capitalHelsinki can embark on day trips to visit the older city. The Old Town also hosts various events, such as an annual Christmas market.
A modern city view of PorvooNew housing designed to match older storage buildings across the river
By the end of the 20th century, there was pressure to develop the essentially untouched western side of the river. There was concern that growth would necessitate the construction of a second bridge across the river into the town, thus putting further strain on the aging wooden town. An architectural competition was held in 1990, the winning entry of which proposed building the second bridge. Plans for the western side of the river have progressed under the direction of architectTuomas Siitonen, and both a vehicle bridge and a pedestrian bridge have been built. The design for new housing is based on a typology derived from the old storehouses on the opposite side of the river. Yet another new development entails the construction of a large business park called King's Gate (Finnish:Kuninkaanportti,Swedish:Kungsporten), which is under construction.
The Porvoo railway station does not have a regular train service, but special museum trains fromKerava (either with steam locomotives or formerVR diesel railcars from the 1950s) operate on summer weekends.[25]
The newhotel called Runo Hotel was opened in the old town of Porvoo on May 31, 2021.[26][27]
Suomenkylä (Swedish:Finnby) is a village north of the centre of Porvoo and beside the Porvoo river. Suomenkylä has an old school founded byJohannes Linnankoski in 1898. The village of Suomenkylä also has two burial places from theBronze Age.
Kerkkoo (Swedish:Kerko) is a village north of the centre of Porvoo and beside the Porvoo river. It has an active school that is over 100 years old. In the village of Kerkkoo, archeologists and townspeople found a stone axe from theBronze Age.
The city of Porvoo has 51,753 inhabitants, making it the 19th most populous municipality in Finland. ThePorvoo region has a population of 59,824. In Porvoo, 8.8% of the population has a foreign background, which is slightly below the national average.[30]
The city of Porvoo is officiallybilingual, with bothFinnish andSwedish as official languages. The majority of the population - 32,655 people or63.7% - speak Finnish as their first language. There are 14,281Swedish speakers in Porvoo, or27.8% of the population.[30]8.5% of the population of Porvoo have amother tongue other than Finnish or Swedish.[30] AsEnglish and Swedish - or Finnish for Swedish speakers - are compulsory school subjects, functional bilingualism or trilingualism acquired through language studies is not uncommon.
At least 50 different languages are spoken in Porvoo. The most common foreign languages areRussian (1.3%),Estonian (1.2%),Arabic (0.8%) andAlbanian (0.7%).[30]
As of 2023[update], there were 4,492 persons with a migrant background living in Porvoo, or 8.8% of the population.[note 1] The number of residents who were born abroad was 4,385, or 8.5% of the population. The number of persons with foreign citizenship living in Porvoo was 2,903.[30] Most foreign-born citizens came from theEstonia, formerSoviet Union,Sweden andVietnam.[29]
The relative share of immigrants in Porvoo's population is slightly below the national average. Moreover, the city's new residents are increasingly of foreign origin. This will increase the proportion of foreign residents in the coming years.
In 2023, theEvangelical Lutheran Church was the largest religious group with 64.8% of the population of Porvoo. Other religious groups accounted for 2.2% of the population. 33.0% of the population had no religious affiliation.[32]
In 2011, there were 20,312 jobs in Porvoo, distributed as follows: primary production 1.6 per cent, processing 32.5 per cent and services 64.7 per cent. In December 2012, the unemployment rate in Porvoo was 8.4 per cent, compared to an average of 10.7 per cent in the rest of the country. At that time, there were 3,389 business locations in the city.[33] According toStatistics Finland, more companies were established in Porvoo in 2009–2013 than closed down, and the number of companies has increased by about 140 each year.[34] According to the Eastern Uusimaa Viability Survey, in 2013 there were a few large companies and a few medium-sized companies in the Porvoo region, but the majority (86 per cent) were companies with less than five employees.[34]
The Satakuntaliitto's Satamittari measures the competitiveness of Finnish regions annually. In 2012, thePorvoo region ranked number one. In 2013, there were 70 sub-regions involved, which were assessed using six factors:labor productivity,employment rate,innovation, level ofeducation,business dynamics and industrial dominance. The Porvoo region ranked fourth afterVaasa, Helsinki andTampere. The region's labor productivity and industrial intensity were the highest in Finland, but the employment rate and level of education were also at the highest level.[35]
In addition to Runeberg torte, the second parish dish in Porvoo was grilled herring with onion rings anddill in the 1980s.Pellinki'sfish soup andnettle soup were chosen as the main dishes of the Porvoo countryside.[37]
Porvoo is also known for its localconfectionery andice cream factories, the most notable being the Brunberg Chocolate Factory[38] and the Old Porvoo Ice Cream Factory (Vanhan Porvoon Jäätelötehdas).[39]
J. L. Runeberg, today known as the "national poet of Finland", lived in Porvoo from 1837 until his death. His home has served as a museum since 1882.[40]
Borgå Gymnasium [fi] in Porvoo is home to Finland's oldestpublic library from 1728.[41] The oldest works in the library, which consists of rare works, are from the 15th century, and the collection includes, among other things,Mikael Agricola's originalSe Wsi Testamenti from 1548. Today it functions as a museum library and is not open to the public.[42]
Porvoo is on the route of theE18 road fromHelsinki toSaint Petersburg, and thePorvoo Highway (part of the Finnish national road 7) along that route is one of the most important transport connections to Helsinki. Other important road connections are the Finnish Regional road 170 going viaSipoo to Helsinki, which continues from theEast Helsinki area to the capital under the nameItäväylä, and themain road 55 leading northwest, viaMonninkylä ofAskola, to theMäntsälä municipality.
It is currently thelargest Finnish municipality without scheduled railway services, since passenger rail services to Porvoo ended in 1981 and freight services in 1990, however proposals exist to link Porvoo to the rail network as part of a new rail line fromHelsinki toKouvola via atunnel betweenPasila andHelsinki Airport, theItärata.[43] There is no airport at all in Porvoo, but another airport in theHelsinki metropolitan area is planned for the Backas area, which would serve the traffic ofcargo and small airlines.[44]
Finland's biggest port by total cargo tonnage is thePort of Kilpilahti (Sköldvik) located on the outskirts of Porvoo.[45] In Porvoo River, on the eastern bank of the river right in the city center, there is a guestmarina. In the village of Hamari, there is also an opportunity for visiting boats to anchor in thebreakwater.[46] Also, theferry connection favored by tourism runs between Helsinki and Porvoo on theMSJ. L. Runeberg ferry.[47]
^abcLeena Valkeapää:Käyttökelpoinen keskiaika: Historiakulttuuria nykypäivän Ulvilassa ja Raumalla. Alue ja ympäristö. 2006, volume 35, no. 2, p. 79–91.
^Jaakkola, Marianne (19 November 2007)."Yleistä Porvoosta" (in Finnish). Porvoo: City of Porvoo. Archived fromthe original on 1 February 2009. Retrieved7 January 2009.
