The Medieval Market of Turku (, ) is an annual

historical reenactment event History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

organised in the historic city centre of

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Admission to the event is free. In addition to living history performances, it includes an open-air

handicrafts A handicraft is a traditional main sector of craft making and applies to a wide range of creative and design activities that are related to making things with one's hands and skill, including work with textiles, moldable and rigid material ...

market with vendors and even visitors garbed in period costume. The main market is at the Old Great SquareMedieval Market at Turku
. (one of the city's oldest market squares), but there are other performances and exhibitions at

Turku Castle Turku Castle (, ) is a medieval structure in the city of Turku, Finland. Together with Turku Cathedral, the castle is one of the oldest buildings still in use in Finland. It is also the largest surviving medieval building in Finland. It was found ...

Turku Cathedral Turku Cathedral (, ) is the only medieval basilica in Finland and the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. It is the central church of the Lutheran Archdiocese of Turku and the seat of the Lutheran Archbishop of Turku, Arch ...

and at the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum.Medieval Turku info
/ref> Together these different performances and exhibitions form the Medieval Turku event, which is organized in unison by Turun Suurtorin keskiaika ry, the Museum Centre of Turku, the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova museum, Rohan Stables and Turku and Kaarina Parish Union. These areas are closed to traffic during the event.Market Place
/ref>

History

The event, held in late June, has been organized since 1996, and is constantly growing in popularity. In 2005, it drew in approximately 100,000 visitors, and employed over 100 voluntary and professional actors and actresses. The Town Market of the

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

merchant, "Laurentius" was organized by the Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum till 2013. Since then, the museum has focused on presenting medieval times through guided tours, lectures and archeological digs.Medieval Turku 26.–29.6.2014
/ref> More recently, the visitor amounts of the market have climbed to 180,000, and they now compete with the most popular summertime events in Finland, such as

Ruisrock Ruisrock is a rock festival held annually on the island of Ruissalo in Turku, Finland. Ruisrock, founded in 1970, is the second-oldest rock festival in Europe (after Pinkpop) and the oldest in Finland. The festival has attracted internationa ...

(93,000 visitors) or

Pori Jazz Pori Jazz is a large international jazz festival, held annually during the month of July in the coastal city of Pori (a population of 82,809 in January 2010), Finland. It is one of the oldest and best known jazz festivals in Europe, having be ...

(150,000 visitors).Turkulainen news article
This market went virtual in 2020.

Gallery

File:Turku Medieval Markets, twisting rope, detail.jpg, Rope twisting 2005 File:Turku Medieval Market, a knight.jpg, Voluntary actor as a soldier 2005 File:Turku Medieval market, bourgeois.jpg, Voluntary actors as members of the

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

2005 File:Turku Medieval Market, handicrafts.jpg, Handicrafts 2005 File:Turku medieval festival.jpg, Turku Medieval Market 2006 File:Turku Medieval Market in 2012.jpg, Market visitors 2012 File:Animal skulls at Turku Medieval market 2015.jpg, Animal skulls 2015 File:Acrobatic show at Turku Medieval market 2015.jpg, Acrobatic show 2015 File:Medieval band at Turku Medieval market 2015.jpg, Medieval band 2015 File:Sahti brewing at Turku Medieval market 2015.jpg, Sahti brewing 2015

Notes

External links

Medieval Market
Official site.
Medieval Turku
Official blog. Culture in Turku Festivals established in 1996 Finnish handicrafts Medieval-themed fairs Medieval reenactment events Tourist attractions in Turku {{finland-stub

History

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links