Artist Bruno Aspelin’s work offers a window onto 18th-century Turku. The sculpture, which depicts Turku Cathedral and its surroundings, stands on the very site it portrays, in the park between the cathedral and Uudenmaankatu street.

Turku Cathedral formed the centre of the city in the 18th century. Its tall tower was visible throughout Turku, symbolising the house of God on earth and watching over the city’s residents and public morality.

From the 15th century until the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, the cathedral was surrounded by a curtain wall. Inside the wall stood the Cathedral Chapter and the Royal Academy of Turku, among other institutions.