Spanning 800 years of history, Turku's cultural and financial power was assured when the king of Sweden, who then ruled over Finland, made Turku the seat of government and installed his representative here.
But Turku’s golden age abruptly ended with Russia routing the Swedes and conquering Finland in 1808. The Russian Tsar shifted the capital to Helsinki, given it was closer to St. Peteresburg and theoretically easier to administer.
Compounding Turku’s bad fortunes, a devastating fire engulfed the city in 1827, incinerating many of its old wood buildings.
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