Sit­u­at­ed on the Gulf of Bot­nia, Rau­ma is one of the old­est har­bours in Fin­land. Built around a Fran­cis­can monastery, where the mid-15th-cen­­tu­ry Holy Cross Church still stands, it is an out­stand­ing exam­ple of an old Nordic city con­struct­ed in wood. Although rav­aged by fire in the late 17th cen­tu­ry, it has pre­served its ancient ver­nac­u­lar archi­tec­tur­al her­itage.