Hirsipuumäen teloituspaikan muistomerkki, Execution memorial site in Turku, Finland
Hirsipuumäen teloituspaikan muistomerkki is a modern memorial on a hill in Turku, consisting of four concrete pillars connected by a metal ring with a large stone positioned beneath. The structure marks the spot where sentences were carried out across several centuries.
From the Middle Ages until the late 1700s, this location served as Turku's official place where capital sentences were carried out. Later, the site was transformed into a memorial to acknowledge what happened there.
The site's name reflects its historical purpose, and visitors can observe how difficult chapters are remembered in Finnish culture today. People come here to pause and connect with a significant part of the past.
The memorial sits near a school and is straightforward to find, with informative plaques on-site explaining historical details. Plan time to read quietly and reflect, as this is a place designed for pause and thought.
Condemned individuals were barred from burial in church grounds, and their remains often ended up in a nearby lake rather than a regular graveyard. This practice reveals how severe social exclusion extended even after death.
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