Porvoo
Porvoo is a city in Finland. It is located on the south coast of the country, on the Gulf of Finland. Porvoo lies in the eastern part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Porvoo is approximately, while the sub-region has a population of approximately. It is the most populous municipality in Finland, and the 15th most populous urban area in the country.
Porvoo is located on the southern coast of Finland, approximately east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval towns of Finland, along with Turku, Ulvila, Rauma, Naantali and Vyborg, and is first mentioned as a city in texts from the 14th century. Porvoo is the seat of the Swedish-speaking Diocese of Borgå of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Porvoo briefly served as the capital of the former Eastern Uusimaa region.
Porvoo is a bilingual municipality with Finnish and Swedish as its official languages. The population consists of Finnish speakers, Swedish speakers, and speakers of other languages. The municipalities neighbouring Porvoo are Askola, Loviisa, Myrskylä, Pornainen, and Sipoo; and the sub-region maintained by Porvoo includes Askola, Myrskylä and Pukkila.
Porvoo Old Town is a popular tourist destination, known for its well-preserved 18th- and 19th-century buildings, and the 15th-century Porvoo Cathedral. The Old Town and the Porvoonjoki River Valley are recognized as, together, one of the National landscapes of Finland. In December 2025, voters chose Porvoo as the "most beautiful Christmas town in Finland".
Etymology
The town received its name from a Swedish medieval fortress near the river Porvoonjoki, which flows through the town. The name Porvoo is the Fennicised version of the Swedish name Borgå, which is derived from borg, meaning "castle" and å, "river".Heraldry
The coat of arms of Porvoo, based on the medieval seal of the city, is "Azure , a tulip-shaped letter C argent ." The main object in the arms has been interpreted as either a fire iron or the letter C, referring to the Latin word for "castle". A version of the arms redrawn by Gustaf von Numers was approved for official use by the Porvoo City Council on March 23, 1960, and the Ministry of the Interior confirmed the use of the coat of arms on June 1 the same year.History
The area of Porvoo has been inhabited since the Stone Age. In prehistoric times, the river Porvoonjoki was a route of commerce for Finnish tribal Tavastians who primarily inhabited the inland regions. The Tavastians also had some permanent settlements in the area, such as the village of Hattula, which was named after an inland Tavastian village. The original name of the river Porvoonjoki was possibly Kukinjoki. The name derives from the name of the trade vessel cog which was a common merchant ship in the Baltic Sea in medieval times. The early center of the area was Saksala, meaning "the place of the Germans", and deriving from the merchants who were trading in Saksala.Porvoo was colonised by Swedes in the 13th and 14th centuries after the so-called Second Crusade against Tavastians in 1249–1250. The colonisation was led by the Catholic Church and the kingdom of Sweden. The colonists originated from Svealand, and were provided with seeds, cattle and, tax exemption for four years.
The oldest known written mentions of Porvoo are from the early 14th century. In circa 1380, Porvoo became the third town in Finland to be granted official town rights, after Turku in 1229 and Ulvila in 1365. However, it is also claimed to have been founded as early as 1347, which would make it the second oldest after Turku. Due to land rise and loss of shipping access, Ulvila lost town rights to nearby Pori in 1558.
When Sweden lost the city of Vyborg to Russia in 1721, the episcopal see was moved to Porvoo in 1723. At this time, Porvoo was the second largest city in Finland.
In 1760, roughly two-thirds of all buildings in Porvoo burned to the ground in a conflagration. During rebuilding, the city planning wasn't altered, instead new buildings were built upon the existing medieval foundations.
Image:Borgå - Johan Knutson - Finland framställdt i teckningar - 48.jpg|thumb|Illustration of Borgå in Finland framstäldt i teckningar edited by Zacharias Topelius and published 1845-1852.
After the conquest of Finland by Russian armies in 1808, Sweden had to cede Finland to Russia in 1809. The Diet of Porvoo in 1809 was a landmark in the History of Finland as tsar Alexander I made Finland an autonomous Grand Duchy. In 1923, six years after Finland's independence, the former Diocese of Vyborg, which operated in Porvoo, was replaced by a current Swedish-speaking diocese of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Diocese of Porvoo.
The Porvoo Common Statement is a report issued at the conclusion of theological conversations by official representatives of four Anglican churches and eight Nordic and Baltic Lutheran churches in 1989–1992. It established the Porvoo Communion, so named after the Porvoo Cathedral where the Eucharist was celebrated on the final Sunday of the conversations leading to the Statement.
The old city of Porvoo was formally disestablished and the new city of Porvoo founded in 1997, when the city of Porvoo and the rural municipality of Porvoo were consolidated.
Urban development
Old Town
The town is famed for its "Old Town", a dense medieval street pattern with predominantly wooden houses from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Old Town came close to being demolished in the 19th century by a new urban plan for the city, but the plan was canceled due to a popular resistance headed by Count Louis Sparre. With the need for growth, a plan was envisioned for a new town built adjacent to the Old Town, following a grid plan, but with houses also built of wood. Jokikatu is one of Porvoo's pedestrian streets, and like the other similar streets of the Old Town, it also includes a variety of restaurants, coffeehouses, antique shops and other stores.The central point of the old town is the medieval, stone and brick Porvoo Cathedral. The cathedral gave its name to the Porvoo Communion, an inter-church agreement between a number of Anglican and Lutheran denominations. The cathedral is reminiscent of similarly aged churches across Finland, such as the Church of St. Lawrence, Vantaa, as they were designed by the same person, the anonymous German architect Pernajan mestari. The Diocese of Borgå that unites the Swedish speaking lutheran congregations, resides here. The cathedral has burned down 5 times. The latest fire happened on 29 May 2006; the roof was totally destroyed but the interior is largely intact. A drunken youth had started a fire at the church, unaware of recent tar work and nearby tar containers, accidentally causing a large conflagration. He was later sentenced to a short prison term and restitutions of 4.3 million euro.
The Old Town is a significant source of tourism in the area. Visitors to the capital Helsinki can embark on day trips to visit the older city. The Old Town also hosts various events, such as an annual Christmas market.
Later developments
By the end of the 20th century, there was pressure to develop the essentially untouched western side of the river. There was concern that growth would necessitate the construction of a second bridge across the river into the town, thus putting further strain on the aging wooden town. An architectural competition was held in 1990, the winning entry of which proposed building the second bridge. Plans for the western side of the river have progressed under the direction of architect Tuomas Siitonen, and both a vehicle bridge and a pedestrian bridge have been built. The design for new housing is based on a typology derived from the old storehouses on the opposite side of the river. Yet another new development entails the construction of a large business park called King's Gate, which is under construction.The Porvoo railway station does not have a regular train service, but special museum trains from Kerava operate on summer weekends.
The new hotel called Runo Hotel was opened in the old town of Porvoo on May 31, 2021.