Turku - Oldest Town in Finland

In addition to being an important trading center and settlement in the 13th century, Turku was also for a time the capital of Finland. Traveling from Naantali to Turku, we ate at the Daphne Restaurant buffet style - delicious! It was lightly raining when I took this picture - note the sailboat in the glass structure behind the restaurant. These are streets and houses in the old section of Turku - charming, with many flower gardens.

And of course we can't visit any town without seeing the church - this is the Turku Cathedral, now over 700 years old and the mother church of the Lutheran Church of Finland, and a national shrine. It doesn't appear very imposing from the outside... ... but the interior was gorgeous.I took this picture to show the changes through the centuries - on the right is the older Norman arch, and the left the newer Gothic arch. There are also changes to the wall above that are still visible.