Description:
Conservation of the Old Town of Porvoo by restoring the riverfront foundations, by lowering the level and repaving old streets as well as giving free advice to owners of old wooden buildings. Porvoo, founded in 1346 and the second oldest city in Finland, is a unique example of medieval town planning. Like many other cities consisting of wooden buildings fire was a frequent threat. The last major fixe occurred in 1760 soon after which the houses were rebuilt on their old foundations. Following a dramatic fire in Turku in 1827, national fire regulations for buildings were changed requiring cities to be reconstructed according to neo-classical orthogonal city plans. Of course, Porvoo should also have undergone rebuilding. However since its building stock was still relatively new, it was never carried out. Later, at the turn of the century, the value of Porvoo and its buildings came to be nationally and even internationally recognized. New plans, formed around the city's existing structure, were then made for preserving Old Porvoo. This led to extensive restoration of the houses, financed to a great extent by their private owners. In 1985 a special committee was formed to ensure the future of old Porvoo. It soon became clear however that more resources were needed in order to meet the requirements of the city and its buildings. In co-operation with state and city, the national Board of Finland, the regional government and the Foundation of the Old City of Porvoo, a preservation program was developed. This plan incorporated projects such as rebuilding the foundations of the riverfront warehouses, an important national symbol, which were on the brink of collapsing into the river. This complicated task alone has spanned almost ten years. The repaving of the old streets has taken just as long. In many places the street level had risen so much that the lower portions of the wooden houses were completely obscured and in danger of being destroyed by rot. The wooden non-residential buildings also underwent restoration. As a result, not only the unique character of Old Porvoo has been preserved, but the project has also set new directives for city planning in the whole of Finland.