Wender·Vista
Turku
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileFinland
on the Aura River, on Finland's southwest coast

Turku

— — the oldest city in Finland, keeping time by the cathedral bell.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Finland's oldest city, on the Aura River where it meets the Archipelago Sea. The cathedral and the castle stand at opposite ends of the river, four kilometres apart, with the old wooden quarters and the market square between them. The cathedral bell rings the noon hour across the country every day on national radio, a ritual unbroken since 1944.

from the studio
Turku
— bring it home

Turku, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Turku

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Turku sits at the mouth of the Aura River on the southwest coast of Finland, where the river meets the Archipelago Sea. Founded in the late thirteenth century, it served as the capital of Finland until 1812, when Russian rule moved the seat of government to Helsinki. The city's population is around two hundred thousand, sixth-largest in Finland. The cathedral and Turku Castle anchor the two ends of the riverfront, with the old wooden quarter of Luostarinmäki preserved as an open-air museum between them.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the stone

Turku Cathedral was consecrated in 1300 on Unikankare Hill above the river and remains the mother church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland. Built of grey granite and red brick, it holds the tombs of medieval bishops and of queen Karin Månsdotter. Four kilometres downstream, Turku Castle was begun in the 1280s as a Swedish fortress at the river mouth; its renaissance halls and dungeon now form a city museum drawing some two hundred thousand visitors a year.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the visit

Trains from Helsinki reach Turku in two hours; the station sits a ten-minute walk north of the cathedral. The river is best walked end-to-end, from the cathedral down to the castle, with stops at the riverboat cafes that open each May. The cathedral and castle are both open year-round; cathedral entry is free and the castle takes a small admission. The noon bell — the cathedral chime broadcast on Finnish national radio — has rung daily since 1944.

— informed by Visit Turku
— where
Finland · Turku, Southwest Finland
— elevation
10 m · 33 ft
— position
60.4518° N · 22.2666° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Turku Cathedral
medieval cathedral
4 km W
Turku Castle
medieval fortress
1 km S
Luostarinmäki
wooden quarter museum
5 km W
Archipelago Sea
island sea
14 km W
Naantali
harbour town
N
Turku
Turku Cathedral
Turku Castle
Luostarinmäki
Archipelago Sea
Naantali
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Turku — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Turku received its town privileges in the late thirteenth century, before any other Finnish settlement. It served as the country's capital and largest city for more than five hundred years, until Helsinki took the seat of government in 1812.

Each day at noon, Finnish national radio carries the chime of Turku Cathedral live across the country. The broadcast began in 1944 and has continued without interruption, marking the hour for the whole nation.

About four kilometres along the river. Most visitors walk the route in under an hour, passing the market square, the riverboat cafes, and the old wooden quarter of Luostarinmäki on the way to the castle.

Turku Cathedral was consecrated in 1300 on Unikankare Hill above the river. It was rebuilt and expanded after the fires of 1318 and 1827, but the medieval core of the building remains intact.

The Archipelago Sea begins at Turku's river mouth and stretches west toward the Åland Islands. It contains roughly forty thousand islands, more than any other archipelago in the world counted by number of islands.

— about the piece in your home

It travels well to Finns and Finnish-Americans, particularly anyone with ties to Turku, the southwest coast, or the archipelago. A Small or Medium in the Glossy finish ships with a handwritten note from the studio.

The piece sits well in Nordic and Scandi-modern interiors, white-and-pale-oak rooms with linen and stoneware, and coastal-modern spaces that favour cool greys and pewter. The river light keeps the room calm rather than busy.

A single Large reads cleanly above a standard sofa or console. For a longer wall, a four-tile Mural extends the river frontage; a nine-tile Mural carries a full living-room wall.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any vertical installation with humidity or splash exposure. Both are scratch-resistant and clean with a microfibre cloth and water.

Yes. The piece was painted by Reid Wender, the curator of WenderVista, and produced in our Knoxville studio. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin glossy finish.

— if this one stayed with you

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