Pori Travel guide

The City hall, also called Junnelius Palace was completed in 1895.

Central Pori Church is situated between the two bridges crossing the River. The Neo-Gothic church’s cast-iron steeple is unique in Finland. The Reposaari Church was built in the Norwegian style 1876. It is known that the drawings came from Stockholm.

Pori Finnish Society founded Satakunta Museum in 1888. The range of exhibits, of which there are about 70 000, is wide & varied. Pori Art Museum as well as temporary art galleries provide excellent facilities for art exhibitions in the town.

Kirjurinluoto Island, situated in the middle of the town in the river, is a beautiful natural park, with a summer theatre. You’ll find here also a Petanque field, some bird ponds and children's playground. The most significant music event is the annual international Jazz Festival held on the Island.

Reposaari is about 32 kilometres from the town. An embankment road connects Reposaari to the Mδntyluoto highway. Reposaari is a distinctive wooden house town, for which the harbour has always played an important role.

F.A. Juselius - a mining counsellor - had the Juselius Mausoleum built to commemorate the death of his 11-year-old daughter.

Pori has always had an active cultural life. The Pori Theatre was designed by a Swedish architect in Neo-Renaissance style and completed 1884. All the old outbuildings were demolished to make way for the new extension completed in 1974. The construction of the theatre, more than 100 years ago, was a far-reaching cultural event.

Pori's nature is unique in Finland. In Pori you can make excursions to coastal bird areas, Yyteri-Preiviikinlahti-beaches or Kokemδenjoki River delta-area, just to mention some possibilities. All these places are located just a few kilometres from the city centre and are easily reached. For example Meri-Pori is at the most only 15 kilometres from the town.

Pori - History

Pori - Swedish Björneborg – city in south-western Finland, lies along the Kokemäen River near the Gulf of Bothnia, north-northwest of Turku.

The city was originally settled in the 12th century farther up the Kokemäen and chartered as Ulvila in 1365.

On 8 March 1558, Juhana, the Duke of Finland, made the decision to build a powerful trade town at the seaside. It was destroyed by fire in the 16th and 19th centuries but was rebuilt both times because of its ideal commercial location.

Today with its 76,600 inhabitants Pori is a significant industrial centre and port on the west coast with an active business life and is as well a popular holiday resort.

This city contains Finland's largest short-wave radio transmitting station. It is connected by rail with Tampere and has air service to Turku and Helsinki. Pori has port facilities on the Kokemäen River and two outports, Mäntyluoto and Reposaari, on the Gulf of Bothnia.