Åbo Swedish Theatre

A Zoom talk and virtual tour of Åbo Svenska Theater, the Åbo Swedish Theatre, was given by the theatre’s head of Communications, Maria Olin. This outstandingly beautiful theatre is the oldest in Finland, among the oldest theatres in Northern Europe and is still primarily in its original form. The first theatre in Finland was built in Åbo in 1817 and was destroyed in Åbo’s Great Fire of 1827. The current building opened on 21 January 1839, with its earliest productions being mainly touring groups of Swedish Actors. Åbo (or Turku in Finnish) plays an integral part in the history of Swedish-speaking Finland. The City is officially bilingual and is the former capital of Finland. It has a magnificent castle (Turun Linna), a Medieval Cathedral founded in 1300, the seat of the Archbishop of Finland, the Åbo Akademi University, which is the only exclusively Swedish-speaking university outside Sweden and, of course, the magnificent Åbo Swedish Theatre. YOUTUBE