Domvillan

Gezeliusgatan 2
Year of construction: 1829-1831

The name Domvillan refers both to the strategic location near Turku Cathedral and the legal term sentence, dom is the Swedish word for cathedral and sentence. The building is of plastered brick construction with a stone base, two floors, and a metal-clad gabled roof. The main façade is richly decorated and dominated by a temple gable with plant ornaments and small lion mascarons above the ground floor windows. 

Origins and Early Owners of Domvillan 

Domvillan was built for the book printer Christian Ludvig Hjelt, who bought the plot at auction in 1828. The original drawings are missing, but stylistic analysis indicate that Pehr Johan Gylich was the responsible designer. Until 1853, the house was the private home of the Hjelt family.

During the ownership of merchant Jakob Fredrik Mittler, Domvillan was used by the Finnish Girls’ School from 1884 to 1906. When the ownership changed to the industrialist Magnus Dahlström and his wife Ellen Dahlström in 1906, they modernised the house with electricity and plumbing, and added a balcony on the second floor.

A Bequest to the Åbo Akademi University Foundation  

Ellen and Magnus Dahlström bequeathed Domvillan to the Åbo Akademi University Foundation in 1923. After her husband’s death, Ellen Dahlström remained in the house until her death in 1929. According to the will, Ellen and Magnus Dahlström’s nieces and nephews had right of use of Domvillan ahead of the university. This meant that Carl Johan Dahlström, son of Magnus’s brother Ernst Dahlström, could use the house as his city apartment until his death in 1935.

In the autumn of 1936, the Faculty of Political Science moved into the upper floor, while the biological collections and later the Maritime Museum used the ground floor.

Renovations and Current Use 

Between 1983 and 1985, renovations and foundation reinforcements were carried out. A basement space was excavated and converted into a club room for students. During the next major renovation between 2012 and 2013, the ventilation and sewage systems were renewed, an elevator was installed, and the façade was repainted.

Over the years, the building has housed many departments at the Åbo Akademi University, including Political Science, Public Administration, and the Institute for Human Rights. The Legal Science disciplines, such as Public Law, Private Law, and Commercial Law, were housed the longest in Domvillan but moved to Juridicum in 2023. Currently, Domvillan is rented out to external tenants, such as the newspaper Åbo Underrättelser and the communication agency Å Communications.

Source: Väggarna talar (2017) by Lars Berggren and Annette Landen.