Pori (Finland)

Pori is a city in south-west Finland, which is located on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river 10 kilometers from the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia of the Baltic Sea, 140 kilometers from Turku and 245 kilometers from Helsinki. The population of Pori as of 2010 was a little over 83 thousand people. Pori is one of six old medieval cities of Finland.

In 1558, Duke John of Finland (Juhana III) made a decision to found on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia a strong market town. The already existing settlement in Ulvila did not have proper conditions for building necessary fortifications, so 10 kilometers from Ulvila, on the coast of the open sea, on the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki river, the town of Björneborg was founded.

As the sea withdrew and dry land was elevated, the town from a sea port became a river town. Now it is some 10 kilometers from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the banks of the Kokemäenjoki river.

Pori is one of the largest transportation hubs in Finland. Car and rail roads intersect in the city; there is a large sea port and an airport in the city. Bus and railroad routes connect Pori to all major centers in Finland.

Among the attractions of Pori there are the following noteworthy objects: the City’s Old Center, which is a beautiful architectural complex composed of the buildings constructed in the middle of 19th—beginning of 20th centuries; Old Town Hall built in 1841; Central Lutheran Cathedral which is located on a spit between the two bridges spanning the Kokemäenjoki river; the church was built in 1863 in Neo-Gothic style; Town Council which is located in the building of Robert Junnelius’s palace, built in 1895 in the style of Venetian palaces; Juselius Mausoleum - the mausoleum of industrial councillor F. A. Juselius is located at the Käppärä Cemetery, and it is one of the most famous cultural attraction of Pori, as the manifestation of the fatherly love to his daughter who died at the age of eleven; Village Reposaari, which is located 32 kilometers from the city, with neat wooden houses of the 18th century, is noteworthy as the place, where the coast dwellers are still living off the sea and fishing, and Yyteri Beach – one of the most beautiful places in the city’s neighbourhoods, 16 kilometers west of Pori’s center. This corner of pristine nature with the virgin clean dunes is a marvelous six-kilometer-long beach on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. These golden beaches and dunes of Yyteri attract great number of vacationers during the summer season.