Pori is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some 10 kilometres from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River.
The city has a population of 83,693 and covers an area of 2,062.00 square kilometres of which 870.01 km2 is water. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.
Culture
Pori Jazz Festival
Pori is widely known for its international jazz music festival, established in 1966. Today Pori Jazz is one of the major jazz festivals in Europe as well as one of the largest culture events in Finland. The nine-day festival is held annually in July. Many renowned musicians have played the festival over the years, including artists like B. B. King, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Bob Dylan, Elton John, Kanye West and Santana.
Concert arenas are located around the city. Main venue is Kirjurinluoto Arena, which is an open-air concert park holding an audience more than 30,000. The arena has hosted also many other events like Sonisphere Festival in 2009 and 2010. SuomiAreena in an international public debate forum held simultaneously with Pori Jazz.
Theatre and music
Pori is considered to be the birthplace of Finnish-language theatre as the Finnish National Theatre gave its first performance at Hotel Otava on October 13, 1872. Pori Theatre is a municipal theatre established in 1931 as a merger of two local stages. Theatre building was completed in 1884. Another professional theatre in Pori is Rakastajat-teatteri. It is also hosting an annual festival for independent theatre groups. Pori is a home for several amateur and youth theatres and the Kirjurinluoto Summer Theatre that presents open-air productions in summertime.
Pori Symphony Orchestra was established 1938 and it is today known as Pori Sinfonietta. The orchestra performs in 1999 built Promenadikeskus music hall. The first city orchestra was founded in 1877. In its early years the orchestra was mostly performing light orchestral music and its musicians were German. The very first symphony concert was played in 1902. Most famous classical composer from Pori is Selim Palmgren, even called as „The Finnish Chopin“. Pori Opera was established in 1976. It performs a yearly production together with Pori Sinfonietta and Pori Opera Choir. In 2004 they recorded Kung Karls jakt which is the first opera composed in Finland.
Museums
Satakunta Museum is a historical museum established 1888. It is one of the oldest historical museums in Finland and presents the history of Satakunta province and the city of Pori. Museum building was completed in 1973. Pori Art Museum is a museum of contemporary and modern art. It was opened in 1979. Museum is based on the collections of local art collector and patronage Maire Gullichsen. Pori Art Museum is located in a former weigh house originally built in 1860. Other museums in Pori are the Rosenlew Museum which is presenting the industrial heritage of Rosenlew Company and the natural history museum Luontotalo Arkki. Toivo is the renovation center of Satakunta Museum. It presents traditional ways of restoring wooden houses with an exhibition of typical early 1900s home.
Sports
Major team sports in Pori are ice hockey and football. Pori is especially known for its popular hockey team Ässät which is a three-time Finnish Champion, most recently in 2013. Their victory parade gathered some 20,000 people to the Pori market square. Local top football side FC Jazz have won the Finnish premier league Veikkausliiga in 1993 and 1996. The club has also competed in several UEFA competitions. FC Jazz currently plays in the third tier Kakkonen. Top local football team is at the moment Musan Salama which plays in second tier, Ykkönen. Women’s football teams are in regional level (Kolmosdivisioona).
The biggest sports club in Pori is Liikuntaseura Pori, which offers multiple sports including gymnastics, TeamGym and cheerleading.
Points of interest
Yyteri Beach is located 17 kilometres out of the city center. The six-kilometre-long beach is one of the largest in Baltic Sea. Part of the area designated as a unisex nudist beach. Tourist facilities in Yyteri include a hotel/spa, camping/caravan park and a golf course. It is also very popular among windsurfers. Island of Reposaari is located some 10 kilometres further of Yyteri. It is connected with the mainland by highway. Reposaari is a unique village with a townscape of mostly wooden buildings and a population of 1,000 people. The island has a church, marina, hostel, camping site, several restaurants and a fishing port.
Juselius Mausoleum at the Käppärä Cemetery was built in 1901 for the 11-year-old daughter of businessman Fritz Arthur Jusélius. It is the only mausoleum in Finland. The building is decorated with a frescoes by Akseli Gallen-Kallela who is one of Finland’s most prominent painters. Kirjurinluoto is an island and park at the delta of river Kokemäenjoki by the city center. On the south side of the river stand the Empire style buildings of the „old town“, raised after the 1852 city fire. 1841 built Old Town Hall is one of the few buildings saved from the fire. Central Pori Church and the Greek Orthodox Church of Pori dedicated to John the Theologian are the most notable churches. 10 kilometres outside the city at the municipality of Ulvila are the Medieval St. Olaf’s Church and the 18th century ironworks of Leineperi.
Villa Mairea is a design of Finland’s most famous architect Alvar Aalto. It is considered as one of his most significant works. The villa is widely known all over the world among the ones interested in modern architecture. Villa Mairea is located in Noormarkku, a municipality annexed with Pori in 2010.
Transport
Pori railway station and bus station are located in the city center. Since the Pori station is a terminal train station, railway traffic is quite moderate. Pori is only connected to Tampere with 13 daily departures by the Tampere–Pori railway. Bus traffic is very busy instead. Pori has more than 100 intercity buses with major Finnish cities Helsinki, Turku and Tampere as well as smaller places like Rauma and Vaasa.
Pori Airport has daily connections to Helsinki Airport and Stockholm Airport. Also seasonal flights to ski resorts of Lapland as well as charter flights to several Mediterranean countries.
Port of Pori is specialized on bulk cargo. It has liner service to several Northern European ports. In October 2013 Pori was the destination of MS Nordic Orion, the first commercial cargo ship ever to transit the Northwest Passage. She was carrying a cargo of coking coal from Port Metro Vancouver, Canada.[
Education
Pori is the home of 28 comprehensive schools and 7 gymnasiums including English, French and German classes as well as the Swedish-speaking Björnebogs svenska samskola, Rudolf Steiner School and a Christian school. First Trivial school in Pori was founded in 1641. Today it is succeeded by Pori Lyceum established 1879. Vocational education is given in five institutes including the music school Palmgren Conservatory and Finnish Aviation Academy which is owned by the state of Finland and Finnish flag carrier airline Finnair.
Highest grades of education in Pori are the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences and University Consortium of Pori (UCPori).
