Lieksa

Lieksa [ liɛksɑ ] is a city in eastern Finland with 12,398 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2012). It lies on the border with Russia in the countryside of northern Karelia on the eastern shore of the Pielinen. Around two- thirds of the population live in Lieksas Kirchdorf Lieksa at the mouth of the river Lieksanjoki in the Pielinen.

Lieksa is known for its nature. To the vast metropolitan area of ​​Lieksa part of the 347 meter high Koli Mountain, which is true because of the spectacular view over the Pielinen as Finnish " national landscape ". The woods of East Lieksa are accessible by hiking trails. Around 25 km north-east of the city center and in close proximity of the fort Ringsa are the rapids of Ruunaa suitable for rafting. The 105 km ² Patvinsuo National Park is located in the swamp and jungle landscape in southeastern Lieksa.

Attractions in Kirchdorf Lieksa are the open- air museum museo Pielisen and the modern church. The museum includes 70 historic wooden houses with authentic furnishings and an exhibition building, where the history is presented. The modern church of Lieksa was built in 1982. The predecessor of Carl Ludwig Engel was burned down in 1979. In summer, in the Lieksa Brass Band Festival Lieksan vaskiviikot instead.

1653 founded the Swedish governor general Per Brahe the Younger at the point of Lieksa a city named Brahea. Brahea was abandoned in the same century. In the 1870s Lieksa developed by the timber floating on the Lieksanjoki back to the main town of the area. 1936 Lieksa became a market town in 1973 became the town of Lieksa by the merger of the borough and the community Lieksa Pielisjärvi. In the 1960s Lieksa had 26,000 inhabitants, since the population is constantly declining.

Sons and daughters

• Ilmari Juutilainen (1914-1999), fighter pilot
• Jaakko Tallus (* 1981), Nordic combined
• Akseli Lajunen (* 1982 ), Nordic combined and ski jumping
• Eppu Väänänen (* 1988), biathlete