Turun hautausmaa siunauskappeleineen (Begravningsplatsen och välsignelsekapellen i Åbo)

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

Turun hautausmaa is, alongside Helsingin Hietaniemi, the most culturally significant cemetery in Finland. The cemetery illustrates ideals of cemetery, memorial, funeral chapel and park design from the early 19th century to the present day. The Ylösnousemuskappeli (Resurrection Chapel), designed by architect Erik Bryggman, represents Nordic Romantic Functionalism and is included in the selection of landmark works of Finnish modern architecture accepted by the international DOCOMOMO organisation. The Pyhän Ristin kappeli (Chapel of the Holy Cross) by architect Pekka Pitkänen is one of the key examples of constructivist concrete architecture of the 1960s.

The area of Turun hautausmaa is almost 60 hectares, and there are around 45,000 graves. The memorials in this leafy cemetery, laid out to follow the forms of the landscape, tell of the history of the city and, more broadly, of the whole country. They commemorate people who influenced political life, economic structure, and the development of the sciences and arts, along with their families, from the early 19th century onwards. The cemetery also contains many common memorials. The most significant of these is the statue of a female figure made of black granite from Viitasaari, located in the common grave area of 902 war dead from the recent wars. It was designed by architect Erik Bryggman and executed by sculptor Jussi Vikainen.

The Ylösnousemuskappeli stands at the end of a road that rises gently from the main gate, on a pine-covered slope. Its design is based on nature and on adapting to it. At the main entrance of the tall building, with its gently sloping roof and light-coloured rendered walls, is an open colonnaded hall paved with quartzite slate. The continuous glass wall of the low south side aisle opens the interior space out to the pine forest outside. In the lower wing north of the chapel hall are rooms for bereaved family members, a priest and staff, as well as an office. The tall bell tower stands on rock south of the entrance colonnade.

The Pyhän Ristin kappeli, located in the newest landscaped part of the cemetery, is part of a building group containing three funeral chapels of different sizes and a crematorium. The chapel's facades and interior surfaces are concrete throughout. According to a contemporary assessment, the chapel's ascetic choice of materials and simple form were intended to create an environment for funeral services that reduces the message of the Cross to its essentials.

History

The cemetery outside the city of Turku, on Skanssin malmi, was consecrated for use in 1807 and has been extended many times. The oldest part was designed by architect Charles Bassi in 1805. The cemetery was extended three times in the 19th century and four times in the 20th century, including the addition to its eastern end of the so-called Krematorio area.

The Resurrection Chapel was built according to the proposal that won a re-run competition held among the authors of the three best proposals in an architectural competition held in 1938. Construction began in 1939 but was interrupted for the duration of the Winter War, and the chapel was completed in spring 1941. The chapel's premises proved inadequate, so a design competition for a new chapel was held in 1963. The winning proposal by architect Pekka Pitkänen was completed in 1967.

Of the areas within the cemetery reserved for people of other faiths, the oldest, the Orthodox section, was established in 1823. The brick chapel with an onion dome was completed in 1881. The small white domed blessing chapel of the Jewish section, designed by architect August Krook, was completed in 1932. The area reserved for Muslims was established in 1915, and the one for Catholics in 1936.