Every town has its stories. This one’s are written in fire. Porvoo is the second oldest town in Finland and one of its prettiest. It’s also the nation’s most fire-prone town.

Last year, a drunk teenager took up a challenge from his friends, climbed to the roof of the oldest cathedral of Porvoo and set it on fire. The cathedral is now under repair, the teenager in jail—he’s supposed to be released at the end of this year, much to the indignation of many Finns.

Tourist guides have added this tale to their repertoire. But as they point out, there have been other great fires in this town of cobbled roads and painted wooden houses.

Built by the river Porvoo, it is one of the existing four towns in the country that goes back to the 14th century. Today it’s a prime tourist destination. In summer, it’s full of day-trippers from Helsinki—the capital is just 50 km away.

Old Porvoo is where most of the action is. You can sit out at the cafes and see the town pass by. With the old town hosting only 250 residential houses and 700 people, that’s a literal possibility. Or you can have a leisurely meal at the Wanha Laamanni, another landmark. This is roughly the spot where once stood the house that set off the great fire of 1760. Early one morning, a local housewife made some fish soup, before going back to sleep. She didn’t put out the fire completely and started an inferno that took down more than half the town with it. But Porvoo wasn’t ready to give up wood—the burnt houses were soon replaced with more wooden ones.

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