Turku (or Åbo in Swedish) was the largest city in Finland and among the three largest in Sweden, while under Swedish sovereignty. In 1809 Finland was ceded to Russia and the capital of the new Grand Duchy of Finland was relocated to Helsinki in 1812, as Turku was regarded as being too remote from Saint Petersburg — and too near to Stockholm. As a result of the Great Fire of Turku of 1827, which devastated most of the city, the government offices that had remained were finally moved to the new capital, and so also was the university. It continued in Helsinki, first as the "Imperial Alexander University in Finland", and, following Finland's independence in 1917, as the University of Helsinki.