Vue d’Abo (Finlande).

Title

Vue d’Abo (Finlande).

Description

Located in the city of Turku (Swedish Åbo) in Finland. On the back: "Le Sultan Abdul-Aziz Rentrant a Constantinople, a son retour d'Egypte."

ca. 1870

Artist

Anonymus

Historical Description

During the 13th century, Turku became the first city in Finland. According to a generally accepted theory, the name Turku comes from the old Russian word tǔrgǔ with the meaning "market place". The Swedish name Åbo means something like “residence on the river. Traditionally, the city was founded in 1229. Already in the late 13th century there was a Dominican monastery and a bishopric in Turku. Turku Cathedral was consecrated in 1300. Turku has been attacked several times during the Swedish period. In 1318 the city was drawn into the clashes between Sweden and Novgorod. In 1509 the Danes attacked under Otte Rud Turku, pillaged the city and pillaged a large part of the cathedral treasure. In 1523 Gustav I. Wasa conquered the city after he had unsuccessfully besieged the castle a year earlier. Shortly after he was crowned King of Sweden, he initiated the Reformation in his country. Martin Skytte, Bishop of Turku 1528–1550, was a moderate supporter of the Reformation. His successor was Mikael Agricola, the most important reformer in Finland, who had been a student of Martin Luther in Wittenberg and who, with his translation of the Bible in 1548, laid the foundation for the Finnish written language. In the 18th century, Turku, like the rest of Finland, was twice under Russian occupation. In the Russian-Swedish War, the Russian troops captured Turku without a fight in 1808. When Sweden had to cede Finland to Russia under the Fredrikshamn Treaty in 1809, Turku was initially chosen as the capital of the newly created Grand Duchy of Finland. From Tsar Alexander I's point of view, Turku was too far away from Saint Petersburg, which is why the decision was made in 1812 to relocate the capital to Helsinki, which until then had been insignificant. With a big fire in 1827, Turku had finally lost its dominant position in Finland. Carl Ludwig Engel was commissioned to rebuild Turkus. He designed a checkerboard-shaped, fire-safe floor plan. Turku remained the largest city in Finland for another twenty years until it was overtaken by Helsinki. Towards the middle of the 19th century, Turku, with its large factories, was Finland's most important handicraft town alongside Helsinki.