19th Century – From Fire to Reconstruction

The Finnish War between Sweden and Russia ended with the Treaty of Hamina (Fredrikshamn) in 1809, after which Finland became an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. Although the Russian Empire followed the Orthodox faith, Finland was allowed to retain Lutheranism as its state religion. Previously, the dioceses of Finland had been under the Swedish archdiocese, but now the Finnish Church became independent and received its own archbishop, based in Turku.

A defining moment for both the Cathedral and the entire city of Turku was the Great Fire of 1827, which almost completely destroyed the city. In the Cathedral, little remained except the stone walls and vaults. During extensive reconstruction works, the Cathedral was restored to new splendor, and much of its present appearance dates from this period.

After the fire, Turku received a new city plan designed by C. L. Engel, characterized by wider streets and a more regular layout. The surroundings of the Cathedral were transformed into a park-like area, and the city’s main square was moved to its current location, the Market Square. Although Turku had lost its status as the capital to Helsinki in 1812, it remained an important center of culture and learning. By the end of the century, the city’s population had grown to over 30,000 inhabitants.

The Devastation of the Great Fire in the Cathedral

On the evening of September 4, 1827, during dry and windy conditions, a fire broke out in the Hellman house on Aninkaistenmäki hill. In the dense maze of wooden buildings, the fire spread rapidly, fueled by strengthening winds. The Cathedral bells rang the alarm, and townspeople rushed to fight the flames, trying to prevent them from reaching their own neighborhoods. Firefighting efforts were hampered by the weather and by a shortage of manpower. Many of the city’s leading burghers and officials were away at a market in Tampere. In addition, no one initially dared to promise payment to the Russian garrison stationed in the city, which refused to assist without compensation.

As the evening progressed, the wind shifted, and during the night the fire spread to the opposite side of the river. Sparks reached the Cathedral’s roof structures, and soon its burning tower rose like a torch above the city engulfed in flames. The fire was finally brought under control the following day, after raging for 18 hours. Three quarters of the city had been destroyed, and more than 11,000 people lost their homes. Today, the only place where the pre-fire cityscape can still be experienced is the Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum.

The storm of fire had now grown so fierce that it was almost impossible to remain standing near the Cathedral, while the air was thick with rushing sparks, embers, flames, and smoke. From far across the surrounding countryside, the glow of this great fire lit up the autumn night.

The destruction in the Cathedral was extensive. Only the stone walls and the vaults remained; even the church bells had melted. Only the rear part of the two-room sacristy survived undamaged, which allowed some valuable objects to be preserved—these can now be seen in the Cathedral Museum. Likewise, a few medieval wooden statues of saints and the reliquary of Blessed Bishop Hemming, stored in the sacristy, survived the fire. The stone funerary monuments from the 17th century in the nave required repairs but were not completely destroyed. Otherwise, almost everything had to be rebuilt.

The Cathedral’s surrounding wall and the buildings attached to it also suffered greatly. Among the losses was the library of the Royal Academy of Turku—except for those books that happened to be on loan outside the city. After the fire, the Royal Academy was relocated to Helsinki, where it was known by the name Imperial Alexander University in Finland, now the University of Helsinki. The destroyed wall and its buildings were subsequently demolished and not rebuilt.

The Cathedral Rising from the Ashes

Throughout its history, the Cathedral has endured around thirty fires of varying severity. The fire of 1827 was among the worst. After the disaster, reconstruction of both the city and the Cathedral began quickly, while parish services were temporarily moved to nearby churches.

A little over two years later, on September 13, 1829, the restored Cathedral was returned to use by both the Finnish- and Swedish-speaking congregations. Although work was still ongoing, a copper roof had been installed and pews placed inside the church. The pews seen today, however, are not the ones built immediately after the fire. Initially, the Cathedral still followed the old system of locked, paid seating. Only in 1884 were more equal, open, and free pews introduced—the ones still in use today.

The current tower spire was also built after the fire and designed by C. L. Engel. Representing the Neo-Gothic style, the new tower cupola was completed in 1834. That same year, the newly finished spire was captured in Finland’s first photograph, taken by Henrik Cajander from his home on Uudenmaankatu. The Cathedral tower rises to about 93 meters above street level and can be seen from afar.

The tower clock also dates from the 1830s, and until 1942, a caretaker had to climb the tower daily to wind it. Although the numerals on the clock face have been renewed, its appearance remains the same: only a single hand—the hour hand—moves. A total of eight bells were hoisted into the tower on ropes to two different levels. The rope passed through a ring that can still be seen on the Cathedral’s main steps. Lower in the tower, six bells are rung for church services, while at the very top two clock bells chime every quarter hour and on the hour.

Walking through the nave, the results of the post-fire restoration are clearly visible. In addition to the tower, C. L. Engel designed the impressive pulpit in 1837, executed by the Swedish ornamental sculptor Carl Wennerström. The present pulpit stands in the same location where the first post-Reformation pulpit was placed in the 17th century—at that time, the altar was still within the octagonal pillars. Engel had wanted to position the pulpit closer to the present main altar, but the church authorities refused to change its traditional location. In a matching style, new hymn boards and hymn number panels were also created. The Cathedral also received new organs funded by donations, featuring 54 stops and over 3,000 pipes.

Imagery of the Main Choir

The appearance of the Cathedral’s main choir reflects the restoration work carried out after the fire of the 19th century. The altarpiece, visible already from the entrance of the nave, was completed in 1834. It was painted by the Swedish artist Fredrik Westin (1782–1862), one of the most prolific painters of altarpieces in his country. The wooden altar frame was carved by Carl Wennerström, based on designs by the Swedish architect Carl Gustaf Blom Carlsson.

The subject of the altarpiece is the Transfiguration of Christ, a very common motif in altarpiece art. The event is described in the Gospel of Matthew:

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them: his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

Matthew 17:1–2

The walls and ceiling are adorned with Finland’s first frescoes—paintings applied to wet plaster. These were created in the 1850s by Robert Wilhelm Ekman (1808–1873). Ekman is often called the father of Finnish painting and was one of the country’s leading artists up to the 1860s. He represented an early national romantic style, drawing inspiration from Karelian and Finnish folklore and mythology. Ekman also painted scenes of peasant life and was a passionate illustrator of themes from the Kalevala.

The recessed panels of the main choir walls feature frescoes depicting events from the life of Jesus, from his birth to the Resurrection. Above, the ceiling shows angels and other heavenly beings described in the Book of Revelation. On either side of the choir doorway stand figures appearing almost like three-dimensional statues: the reformer Martin Luther and Bishop Ansgar, known as the Apostle of the North, who lived in the 9th century.

In addition to these biblical scenes, Ekman—who held the title of history painter in Sweden—depicted two historical events in the main choir. In the first, Bishop Henry baptizes Finns at the spring of Kupittaa. In the second, Bishop Mikael Agricola presents a newly translated Finnish New Testament to King Gustav Vasa. These scenes reflect both Ekman’s imagination and contemporary interpretations: Bishop Henry never came to Turku but worked further north, and King Gustav Vasa did not personally receive the first Finnish translation of the New Testament. Nevertheless, it is not surprising that Ekman chose to depict the Christianization of Finland and the birth of the Finnish written language as key historical moments in the Cathedral.

The Committee for the Restoration of Antiquities

The historical layers of the Cathedral are clearly visible. A notable example is the side chapels, originally built in the Middle Ages to house altars dedicated to saints, later transformed into burial spaces after the Reformation. The most elaborate funerary monuments were created in the 17th century to commemorate military figures.

After the Great Fire of Turku, many monuments were damaged and the interiors of the chapels were destroyed. Restoration work was undertaken by the Committee for the Restoration of Antiquities of the Cathedral, founded in January 1865 to restore its monuments. Among its early members were the writer Nils H. Pinello, the advocate of Finnish national ideas and author Zachris Topelius, the art patron Fredrik Cygnaeus, the artist R. W. Ekman, and Count C. M. Creutz. They shared a strong interest in the Cathedral’s historical heritage, although only Ekman had formal artistic training.

The committee focused particularly on figures from the Swedish great power period. Its first major project was the monument of Queen Karin Månsdotter. With donated funds, a black marble sarcophagus was commissioned, into which Karin’s remains were transferred in 1867 from the Tott burial vault. The sarcophagus was placed in the Kankainen Chapel, whose interior was decorated in a royal style.

Subsequently, the committee redesigned the Tavast, Tott, and Stålhandske chapels, giving them their present appearance: walls were repainted, and damaged monuments were restored. In the Tavast Chapel, new coats of arms were carved in Florence to replace those destroyed in the fire, under the direction of Magnus von Wright and Italian ornament sculptors. In the 1870s, the Russian-Finnish artist Wladimir Swertschkoff donated the decorative stained-glass windows that can still be seen today.

In emphasizing the grandeur of the Swedish great power era, the committee showed little regard for the heritage of the Catholic Middle Ages. Some medieval frescoes were destroyed to make way for new designs. Only with the founding of the State Archaeological Commission in 1884 (now the Finnish Heritage Agency) did restoration work come under more critical supervision.

The committee’s plans extended beyond the side chapels. In 1894, a delegation was appointed to prepare a comprehensive restoration plan for the entire Cathedral. It was chaired by Professor Eliel Aspelin-Haapkylä, with members including Emil Nervander and architect Magnus Schjerfbeck. The proposed plan of 1896 clearly shows, for example, that the relatively recent tower design by C. L. Engel did not appeal to the delegation. They also proposed removing and redesigning medieval asymmetrical features, such as vaults and window openings.

The restoration proposal followed a broader European trend of the time, in which “imperfect” historical layers were often removed in favor of restoring a building to a more stylistically unified form. In the case of the Cathedral, the aim was to recreate a more purely Gothic appearance of the 15th century.

However, the proposal drew strong criticism. A new generation of architects valued the building’s historical layers and irregularities, rather than seeking stylistic uniformity. The plan was sent back for revision, and a more moderate proposal was presented in 1901. Even this failed to gain support, and by 1909 the restoration debate had faded, with the plans ultimately abandoned.