Porvoo, Medieval coastal town in Uusimaa, Finland.
Porvoo is a town on the southern coast of Finland, located about fifty kilometers east of Helsinki in the Uusimaa region. The Old Town spreads around the Porvoonjoki River, where narrow cobblestone streets wind between wooden houses painted in red, yellow and white.
Swedish settlers founded the town in the fourteenth century as a trading post at the mouth of the river leading to the Gulf of Finland. The cathedral on the hill was built in the fifteenth century and served as the meeting place in 1809 when Finland changed from Swedish to Russian rule.
Visitors can tour the home of Johan Ludvig Runeberg, where the Finnish national poet lived and worked while writing his Swedish-language poetry. The house shows the living rooms and study as they appeared in the nineteenth century.
The Old Town is best explored on foot, as the lanes are narrow and many areas are open only to pedestrians. In winter the cobblestone paths can become slippery, so shoes with good grip are recommended.
Along the riverbank stand red wooden warehouses that once stored goods such as tar, grain and salt before ships carried them across the Baltic Sea. Today these buildings house shops, studios and small cafes while keeping their original exterior design.
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