The town of Turku grew around the Cathedral in the valley of river Aura (Aurajoki) after the mid-13th century. In the Middle Ages Turku was FinlandΓÇÖs largest town and at the end of the 15th century the second largest in the Swedish Realm. The one bishopric of all Finland was situated in Turku. In those days Finland belonged to Sweden and Turku was the ecclesiastical and administrative centre of the KingdomΓÇÖs eastern provinces. Ships of Hanseatic merchants sailed to the city from all over the Baltic area and in those times Turku was a multilingual, international trading centre.
