What to See Inside Turku Castle
164 rooms, 120 metres of wall and five exhibitions across the main castle, the bailey and two attic halls — a room-by-room guide to a self-paced visit.
Turku Castle divides into two halves that were built for different purposes: the main castle (päälinna), the medieval defensive core that was later converted into a Renaissance palace, and the bailey (esilinna), which took the artillery works and, much later, the prison. The exhibition route runs through both, plus two attic halls created in the post-war rebuilding. There is no fixed itinerary and no timed slot, so knowing what sits where is the difference between a coherent visit and a wander. This guide works through the structure, the named rooms and all five current exhibitions.
How is Turku Castle laid out?
The site splits into the main castle (päälinna) and the bailey (esilinna), and the numbers the museum publishes give a useful sense of scale before you arrive. The castle walls total 120 metres in length and are three metres thick — the operator's own headline figure, and worth citing correctly, because larger numbers circulate that no primary source supports. The building holds 164 rooms. The West Tower rises 38 metres and the East Tower 32 metres. The fabric is grey stone rather than granite. Beyond the castle itself, the protected site includes a 16th-century moat and four merchant warehouses dating from the 1880s, which is why the approach reads as a compound rather than a single building.
It began as something looser than what you see now. The Finnish Heritage Agency's register describes an initial open "camp castle" (leirilinna) with a perimeter wall and two towers, built from the 1280s on what was then a rocky island at the mouth of the Aura river, chosen because it suited defence. Only later was it closed up and divided into the main castle and the bailey. That two-part division is the single most useful thing to hold in your head on a visit, because it explains why the medieval vaulted rooms, the Renaissance state rooms, the artillery tower and the exhibitions all sit where they do rather than in one continuous sequence.
Which medieval rooms should I look for?
Four named spaces carry the medieval fabric. The Kuninkaansali (King's Hall), the Nunnakappeli (Nun's Chapel) and the Herrainkellari (Gentlemen's Cellar) are all vaulted rooms built during the castle's 1300s and 1400s phase, when the original camp castle was being rebuilt into a closed stone castle. The Sturenkirkko (Sture Church) came later, built by governor Sten Sture the Elder in the 1480s along with the upper levels of the eastern tower. These are the rooms where the building's own age is most legible: vaulting, thickness and small openings rather than display design. In the early 14th century the commander Mats Kettilmundsson held a knightly court here, and by the 1400s the castle was a key fortification in the eastern part of the Kalmar Union.
Walk the medieval half slowly, because the route through it is physically demanding in a way that shapes how long it takes. The stairs are steep, the doorways can be narrow, and the courtyard you cross to reach the entrance is paved with uneven natural stones. Not all areas are wheelchair accessible because of the level differences, and the museum offers an audio guide as its own workaround for the sections that cannot be reached. That audio guide is free, available in English, French, Russian, Swedish and Finnish through SoundCloud with no app needed — download it before you arrive, because the thick castle walls interfere with wireless connectivity inside the building.
What did the Renaissance conversion add?
It was the main castle, not the bailey, that became the Renaissance palace — a distinction worth getting right, because it is often reversed. As defence was progressively moved outward to the bailey and the earthworks, the medieval main castle lost its military purpose and could be converted into a residential palace. The renovation of 1556 to 1563 added a new King's Hall to the north wing and completed the central staircase tower. Gustav Vasa had appointed his son John Duke of Finland in 1556, and court life at the castle was at its most splendid during Duke John's time. His consort was Catherine Jagiellon, and both appear as life-size wax figures in the castle's own exhibition in the bailey.
The bailey took a different kind of building work. A round artillery tower was raised at its south-east corner between 1568 and 1574 — the outward-facing military answer to a main castle that had stopped being a fortress. Inside the main castle, the levels most visitors reach are the 2nd floor with the Great Hall, the 3rd floor with the castle church and sacristy, and the 6th floor with the Southern Exhibition Hall; the lift from the courtyard ramp serves exactly those three. Two of the most visible interiors today are reconstructions rather than survivals: the castle church and the medieval King's Hall were rebuilt after the war, and remain the most contentious decisions of that project.
What is on show in the main castle?
Two of the five exhibitions sit in the main castle. Echoes and Shadows unfolds along the route through the medieval keep and covers the 1300s to the 1600s through the people who lived and worked there — among them the housekeeper Brita Olofsdotter, Sofia Gyllenhielm (Duke John's illegitimate daughter), the resistance leader Jaakko Ilkka, and King Gustav Vasa. Its device is restraint: shadows cast fleetingly on the walls, brief silhouettes rather than reconstructed rooms. Because it follows the keep route rather than occupying a gallery, it is the exhibition you encounter without planning to, and it is the reason the medieval half of the castle does not feel like empty stonework.
Crown's People occupies the Great Hall and deals with soldiers, castle defence and military readiness from the Middle Ages to the early 1600s. It displays genuine cavalry and foot-soldier equipment — stabbing weapons, blunt weapons and firearms — drawn from the Turku Museum Centre's 1500s and 1600s collections. Two objects justify the stop on their own: an iron mechanical hand prosthesis from the early 1600s, and a 1500s wall painting of a mercenary with his sword. Together with Echoes and Shadows it gives the main castle a consistent subject — the people who garrisoned and ran the place — rather than a general survey of Finnish history.
What is in the bailey?
The bailey holds The History of Turku Castle, the permanent exhibition that carries the whole story from the 13th century to the present day, tracing the shift from defensive fortress to Renaissance palace. It contains almost 1,000 objects, some of them previously unknown finds from the castle itself. Its themes run through the castle as a defence fortification, a transit point for merchandise, a barracks and finally a museum, alongside 16th-century worldviews and child-rearing. The set pieces are the life-size wax figures of Duke John, Catherine Jagiellon and the merchant Valpuri Innamaa, and a scale model of the castle in Per Brahe's time that lets visitors look into 17th-century halls, kitchens and even a sauna.
This is also the exhibition with the clearest child-facing layer: the Tomten, the head gnome of Finland, guides visitors through five of the exhibits from a gnome's point of view. The bailey is where the practical parts of a visit live too. Duke John's Cellar, the café run by Sunborn Events, sits on the right-hand side of the main gate. And the bailey carries the castle's least glamorous history: the outer bailey was converted into a prison in the 19th century, with prison use at the castle running from the 1770s until 1890. There is no visitable underground dungeon — the prison story is told through the exhibition, not through a route.
What is in the attic exhibition halls?
The Northern Exhibition Hall is the surprise of the visit: an almost 60-metre-long attic space, created in the post-war renovation, holding "Sparkle from the halls and chambers". It shows more than 800 objects and costumes from the 17th to the 19th centuries — over 600 artefacts and around 200 garments, including hats, shoes and fans, alongside jewellery, porcelain and silk. The emphasis falls on Turku craftsmanship, particularly the work of the city's goldsmiths. Two rarities anchor it: a 17th-century riding jacket, and a 1734 wedding robe shown publicly for the first time in nearly a century. The hall was modernised in 2019 and 2020, keeping its original 1960s display cases with new lighting and upholstery.
The Southern Exhibition Hall, on the 6th floor, holds "Built from Ruins", which documents the castle's own reconstruction. The main castle was severely damaged in the bombings of 1941; restoration had officially begun in 1939 but was interrupted by the Winter War, and the main reconstruction ran from 1946 to 1961 under the architect Erik Bryggman, with the interior architect Carin Bryggman continuing his work. The stated principle was to preserve all surviving structures and reconstruct only those elements for which there was reliable evidence. It was described as the largest project of its kind undertaken in the Nordic countries at the time. Seeing this hall last reframes everything you have walked through beneath it.
Frequently asked
What are the main highlights inside Turku Castle?
The vaulted medieval King's Hall, Nun's Chapel and Gentlemen's Cellar, the Sture Church of the 1480s, the Renaissance rooms of 1556–1563, and five exhibitions spread across the main castle, the bailey and two attic halls.
What is the difference between the main castle and the bailey?
The main castle (päälinna) is the medieval defensive core, later converted into a Renaissance palace once defence moved outward. The bailey (esilinna) took the round artillery tower of 1568–1574 and, in the 19th century, the prison.
How thick are the walls?
Three metres, according to the castle's own history page. The walls total 120 metres in length, the West Tower stands 38 metres tall and the East Tower 32 metres, and the building contains 164 rooms.
How many exhibitions are there?
Five. Echoes and Shadows and Crown's People are in the main castle, The History of Turku Castle is in the bailey, "Sparkle from the halls and chambers" is in the Northern Exhibition Hall, and "Built from Ruins" is in the Southern.
What is in the Northern Exhibition Hall?
An almost 60-metre-long attic space showing more than 800 objects and costumes from the 17th to 19th centuries — over 600 artefacts and around 200 garments — with an emphasis on Turku goldsmiths' work.
Can I visit the castle's dungeons?
There is no visitable underground dungeon route. Prison use at the castle ran from the 1770s until 1890, and the outer bailey was converted into a prison in the 19th century, but that history is told through the exhibitions.
Is there an audio guide?
Yes, and it is free. It is available in English, French, Russian, Swedish and Finnish through SoundCloud with no app download required. Save it before arriving — the thick castle walls interfere with wireless connectivity.