Hello!
Guess what? Our medieval adventure continues.
During the market weekend there's usually a medieval day at the castle too. Of course the castle is medieval all the time and you can go there whenever the museum is open, but the medieval day is a bit different. There's more activity and medieval people than usually and it's also possible to go to some places which are normally closed.
Turku Castle is one of the most notable historical buildings in Finland and it's also the oldest surviving medieval building in Finland. The castle was founded in the late 13th century and it's located near the mouth of Aurajoki and the Port of Turku. Originally the castle was built on an island, but the ground has ascended during the centuries so much that the island is fully connected to the mainland.
The castle has been through a lot during it's long history. It's been built, burnt, rebuilt and extended many times. The latest major damage was caused by an incendiary bomb that hit the Medieval keep on 1941, when Soviet Union was air raiding Turku during the Continuation War. After that the castle has been renovated and restored to its 16th century glory. Now the castle is one of the most popular museums in Finland. It's also a popular place for weddings.
The castle can be divided into two parts: the Renaissance bailey and the Medieval keep. This is the courtyard between those two parts - with a view of the eastern tower and the smaller entrance tower of the Medieval keep in the front of it.
First we went to the inner courtyard and found out that this door was open. Now we can see a room that's usually closed. It's the oldest room where people have lived in the castle.
After that we decided to enter the Medieval Keep. On a way there, we met the gatekeeper's bear.
Inside we sat down for a moment and admired the thick walls and big windows.
In the gatekeeper's chamber we saw paintings from the 16th century. There was also an old saddle, which seems to be quite small and possibly very uncomfortable.
In this room you can see scale models of the different building phases that the castle has gone through during it's long history.
This room is the Nun's Chapel. Katarzyna Jagiellonka - wife of Johan III, who lived in the castle on the 16th century when Johan was the Duke of Finland - used this room for her prayers.
This picture is from the scribe's chamber.
These stairs lead to the top of the western tower. The uppermost floor is usually closed, but not today. The stairs are very steep with high and worn steps, not the easiest thing to walk on.
Here we are, on the top of the western tower. We wanted to take a photo in the front of an open hatch because the view is beautiful, but there were too many people and we didn't want to risk falling down either. These hatches are built for cannons, so no window glass there.
Here we are on the Renaissance floor, it's the uppermost floor of the castle, if you ignore the towers. This floor was built on the 16th century for Johan III and Katarzyna Jagiellonka. The chambers where they lived are located here.
Then we continued the tour to the Renaissance Bailey. Here we are in the prison of Erik XIV. Erik was Johan's brother and the king of Sweden (at that time Finland was a part of Sweden, too). He was held as a prisoner here after he lost his sanity and Johan became the king.
It's said that Erik spent so much time watching out of the window that his elbows left marks on the windowsills. We're sitting around one of those marks on these photos.
The paintings on the wall show Erik XIV and probably his wife Karin Månsdotter.
Later the castle served as a prison too. The last convicts were moved out of the castle on 1891, when the building of Kakola was completed.
We had a great day in the castle.
Greetings,
ZeeZee
