The Chapel of the Resurrection

• Address: Hautausmaantie 21, 20720 Turku
• Phone: +358 40 3417530
• Phone: +358 40 3417253 (reservations)
• E-mail: turku.y-kappeli@evl.fi
• Open by agreement

The broschure of the Chapel of the Resurrection PDFThe link opens in a new tab

Here, mourners come to acceptance. 
Acceptance of the vicissitudes of life. 
Acceptance of death. 
Acceptance of light.

While Europe was suffering World War II (1939–1945) a new funeral chapel, designed by the architect Erik Bryggman, was built in the Turku  Cemetery. Building work, begun in the spring of 1939, was interrupted by the Winter War (between Finland and the Soviet Union). The fate of soldiers killed in action and the pain of their bereaved families influenced Bryggman and details of the chapel. He wanted  the building to provide comfort for those broken by death and grief. The Chapel of the Resurrection was completed in the spring of 1941, on the eve of the Continuation War. It became an international attraction and is considered to be the most beautiful funeral chapel in all of the Nordic countries.

Entry into the chapel is through a shadowy vestibule, which opens up into a kingdom of light inside the chapel. The chapel hall narrows towards the altar. The hall and the altar choir are separated by a vaulted arch. Traditionally, this is called a triumphal arch, like those used in ancient victory parades, and represents Christ’s victory over death. The architect Pekka Pitkänen, who worked at Bryggman’s office, considers the chapel arch to be the most beautiful triumphal arch in modern Finnish architecture.

In addition to drawing on centuries of tradition, the Chapel of the Resurrection also draws n architectural styles from the 1920s up to and including the 1940s, from Neo-Classicism to Modernism.

Two funeral chapels serve the people of Turku on the Turku Cemetery established in 1807: the Chapel of the Resurrection and the Holy Cross Chapel. The grounds of the Turku Cemetery occupy 60 hectares (almost 10 acres) of land.