The Church of Tornio
The Church of Tornio was the southernmost end of the chain of survey triangulations. The measurements were taken in the bell tower of the church, with a good view of Kaakamavaara Hill and Huitaperi Hill.
The Church of Tornio, also known as the Hedvig Eleonora Church, was built in 1686. It is named after Queen Hedvig Eleonora of Sweden (1636–1715). There is also a church of the same name in Stockholm.
Opposite the church, on the other side of Seminaarinkatu road, is the Maupertuis Park, where there is a memorial to the degree-measuring expedition.
The bell tower of Tornio church was the last place where the expedition took angular measurements. They found it difficult to get any peace when there were so many curious people around, including Anders Celsius’ students from Uppsala University, Jonas Meldercreutz and Johan Cederström. They travelled to north that summer, stopping off occasionally to follow up on the work of the expedition.
On Sunday, September 2, 1736, after church, Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis, Réginald Outhier and Celsius created a diversion. Celsius crept up to the bell tower, and Maupertuis and Outhier pretended to be going for a walk. Once alone, they hurried to the tower, to where the quadrant – the instrument used to measure angles – had been taken earlier.
The measurements could finally be taken in peace. After these measurements, only the angle between Iso-Horila Hill (Horilankero) and Niemivaara Hill, measured from Kaakamavaara Hill, was missing.
The Church of Tornio was built by Matti Joosefinpoika Härmä from Liminka. It is a three-paired block-pillar church. The church is richly decorated in Baroque style.
At the time of the excursion, the church was surrounded by a stone fence covered with planks. The structure of the fence is clearly shown in a drawing by Outhier. The drawing is the oldest known accurate picture of the Church of Tornio.
The paintings on the vaulted ceiling were done immediately after the church was completed in 1687–88. They were painted by Lauri (Lars) Gallenius (circa 1658–1753), the official painter of the city of Oulu.
The pulpit dates from 1701. It was carved by the Swedish carpenter Nils Jacobsson Fluur (1665–) and painted by the painter Didrik (Diedrich) Möllerum (1642–ca. 1702). Möllerum was most probably from Denmark. In addition to the pulpit, he painted an old altarpiece, also from 1701. At the time of the expedition it was still on the altar, nowadays it hangs above the door of the armoury.
The present altarpiece from 1754 was painted by Johan Ollongren.
In the 1730s, a path led to the church from the western shore of Suensaari Island, where the population in the area had mostly settled. The services were held in Swedish. The Finnish-speaking people gathered at the Church of Alatornio on the east side of the river in Pirkkiö.
Several wealthy residents of Tornio have been buried under the floor of the church. The bodies are well preserved and many of them have mummified. The wealthiest burgher in Tornio during the Maupertuis period, Mayor Petter Johan Pipping (1694–1766), is known to have been buried under the church floor. Burials in the church were stopped at the beginning of the 19th century.
Sources:
Outhier, Réginald. Matka Pohjan perille. Maupertuis Foundation and Väyläkirjat, 2011 (orig. 1744).
Pekonen, Osmo. La rencontre des religions autour du voyage de l’abbé Réginald Outhier en Suède en 1736–1737. Lapin yliopistokustannus, Rovaniemi, 2010.
Tornio parish: https://www.tornionseurakunta.fi/kirkot-ja-tilat/kirkot/tornion-kirkko/tornion-kirkon-historiaa
A map
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- Red = Measurement point of the triangulation chain.
- Green = Walking route.
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On the old map
The Church of Tornio on the map drawn by Réginald Outhier (Carte du fleuve de Torneå, 1736).
Information
Pictures from the Church of Tornio
The pictures open in large size in the gallery by clicking on the picture.
The expedition on the map
Réginald Outhier has written a detailed description of the expedition’s journey from Paris to Tornio and back. The journey took two months each way and was made by boat and wagon. On the way back, the expedition was in a shipwreck in the Bay of Bothnia.
Measurement points and other destinations
- Aavasaksa
- Baseline
- Huitaperi
- Iso-Horila
- Kaakamavaara
- Kittisvaara
- Niemivaara
- Nivavaara
- Pullinki
- The Church of Matarenki
- The rapids of the Torne