Michael's Church

• Address: Puistokatu 16, 20100 Turku
• Phone: +358 40 3417110
• Open during wintertime 2023: Until June 4 and after August 7 Wed–Fri 11 am – 5 pm, Sat–Sun 11 am – 2 pm.
• The Sunday Service of Michael's Parish at 11 am (in Finnish)

The western skyline of the city of Turku is dominated by Michael's Church which was consecrated in 1905. It was designed by Professor Lars Sonck. When he won the competition for the church in 1894, Sonck was only a 23-year old architectural student. The name Lars Sonck gave to his winning design, "SOLI DEO GLORIA AETERNA" - To the eternal glory of God - succintly expresses both the purpose and the function of the church.

Michael's Church is older than Michael's parish. The parish only dates back to 1921.

Example of the neogothic style

Michael's church is a distinguished example of the neogothic style in architecture. It is a long church with three aisles, galleries and a multifaceted choir. In addition to the main entrance there are also doors at each corner of the church. The sacristy is situated behind the choir. The main spire rises to a height of 77 meters from the foundations. 

The main building material of the walls of the church is red brick. The roof is made of grey green slate from Norway. But the majority of the material used in the construction of the church are native materials from Finland. For the foundations, the stone steps, and the walls, natural stone was quarried not far from Turku. 

Even before the construction work started, Sonck wanted to make considerable changes to his winning design. But the church council did not agree to the proposed changes. In fact only minor detail changes were made to the facade. As for the interior, however, Sonck got a much freer hand to make changes from his original drawings. This is clearly seen in the deviations from the style of the times: Jugend follows Gothic and National Romanticism. 

The ornamented interior

Max Frelander the architect, who worked as an assistant to Sonck, has contributed to the interior design. A rich Jugend ornamentation decorates both the interior, the staircases and the windows. The altar, the pulpit, the altar rail, and the window frame are all made of Finnish soapstone. The central motif of the altar is a cross, on whose base there is a symmetrical carving of two serpents. Also on the corner level of the altar rail there are rings of twisting serpents. The top of the cross is ornamented with a dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Jugend windows of the choir, which depict Finnish pine, were destroyed in a bombing raid during the Finnish Winter War (1939-1940). The national romantic movement is particularly dominant in the design of the choir. Motifs from Finnish nature are associated with traditional Christian symbolism. 

The original window paintings, which were destroyed during the Winter War, were by the artist Willy Baer. The new ones were obtained in 1953. These were designed and done by the artists Hilkka Toivola and Otso Karpakka. The principal subjects of these works of art that were made in the Paris glass painting studio of Jean and Pierre Gaudin, are "the Good Shepherd" and "Faith, Hope, and Charity". Along with the new windows the stylistic unity of the interior of the church disappeared. Consequently, in the 1950's other changes were made in the interior design of the church to match the Gothic exterior. First the decorative paintings of the choir and the arch of triumph were painted over, and later the wall paintings in the body of the church and the staircases. However, the original decorative pictures were restored in connection with the general repair work on the church that was carried out in 1964-65. 

Renovations of the last decades

Michael's Church underwent a thorough renovation in the 1980's. First, an exterior repair work was carried out in 1984-85. The decayed exterior brick work and the roof were completely rebuilt. Reconditioning of the interior was done in 1985-87. 

The romantic organ with 52 stops and 3633 pipes was built in 2002 by Grönlund organ builders in Sweden. The organ case is made of oak, and it resembles the case of the first organ from 1907, which was designed by Sonck. 

The church bells have rung out from the main spire since 1931, and they were a gift from Edla and Hjalmar Aarnio. Reino Lehto made a gift to the church of the model ship hanging from the gallery. Kaarina Lehmussaari, lecturer in textiles, donated a new decorated altar cloth.