Aurakatu runs SE to the Aura Bridge (Auransilta). To the right, on the banks of the river, is the Town House (,Kaupungirttalo, 1885), and near this, the oldest surviving wooden house in the town (restored 1 957), a Pharmacy Museum. to the left, upstream, is the Municipal Library (C. Wrede, 1903), modelled after the Knights’ House in Stockholm, with an attractive fountain; beyond this the Cathedral Bridge leads across the river to the Cathedral. In
Aninkaistenkatu, which runs NW from the bridge, are the Goteborg Commercial College (No. 9) and the Concert Hall (1953), with a sculptured group by W. Aaltonen (1955).
At the SE end of the Cathedral Bridge, from which Uudenmaankatu continues SE, is Cathedral Square, attractively laid out in gardens. On the W side of the square are a statue of the Finnish historian, H. G. Porthan (1739-1804), the Swedish Lyceum (1724), originally founded in 1630 as the Grammar School, and the Old Town Hall, now occupied by the police. On the E side of the square, on Unikankari Hill, stands the Cathedral (Tuomikirkko’, formerly St Henrik’s), founded about 1230 and consecrated in 1290. This is a massive brick building in late Romanesque style with Gothic and Renaissance additions and a tower 98 m (320 ft) high.
The INTERIOR (restored after a fire in 1827) contains several monuments to notable figures of the past. To the right of the main entrance is the funerary chapel of Torsten Stcilhandske (d. 1644), Swedish commander of the Finnish cavalry in the Thirty Years War. To the left of the entrance is the Tavast Chapel, with the tombs of Bishops Magnus Tavast (d. 1452), Olaus, Tavast (d. 1460) and Magnus Stjernkors (d. 1500). On the left of the choir is the Kankas Chapel, the finest in the church, built for the Horn and Kurck families; in the middle of this chapel can be seen the granite sarcophagus (1867) of Queen Karin MSnsdotter (d.1612), daughter of a common soldier, who was raised to the throne by Erik XIV. On the right of the choir is the Tott Chapel, built by Per Brahe in 1678, with the tombs ofthe Swedish general, Ake Tott (d. 1640) and his wife, Sigrid Bjelke.
Best months to travel to Scandinavia Photo Gallery
Maybe You Like Them Too
- The Best Cities To Visit in The World
- World’s 10 Best Places To Visit
- Coolest Countries in the World to Visit
- Travel to Santorini, Greece
- Map of Barbados – Holiday in Barbados