Vanhakaupunki

Vanhakaupunki ( swedish Gammelstaden ) is a branch (Finnish osa - alue ) and also a district ( kaupunginosa ) of the Finnish capital Helsinki. Literally translated Vanhakaupunki "old town". The name comes from the fact that Helsinki was founded in 1550 at this point. From the original old town is now almost nothing remains. The district is located north of downtown at the mouth of the Vantaa in the bay Vanhankaupunginlahti ( " Old Town Bay ").

History

On the orders of King Gustav Vasa of Sweden Helsinki (then Helsinki ) founded on June 12, 1550 at the site of the medieval village Koskela ( Forsby ). The city should (now Tallinn) to compete with the then to the Teutonic Order Reval belonging to the international maritime trade. The inhabitants of the cities Rauma ( Raumo ) Ekenäs, Ulvila ( Ulfsby ) and Porvoo ( Porvoo ) were ordered to move into the newly formed Helsinki.

The early history of Helsinki was under an unlucky star. Only eleven years after the founding of Helsinki succeeded in Sweden to conquer Tallinn, whereby the structure of Helsinki lost its importance. In the context of a Russian attack in winter 1570 Helsinki was destroyed by a fire, and the following summer broke a plague epidemic from. End of the 16th century, the city had only 500 inhabitants. At the far end of the bay gradually sanding Vanhankaupunginlahti - - Also, the location of the city proved to be a vessel traffic unfavorable.

In 1640 it was decided, therefore, to make a new start and to move the city closer to the open sea, on the site of today's historic center of Helsinki (the area of the Senate Square ). The original Helsinki, from now on called " Old Town ", was abandoned and fell gradually.

From the original old city today is virtually nothing remains, because all the houses were built of wood. You can see only the 10 x 20 m large stone foundation of the first church of Helsinki ( 1550s - years). After all, the approximate map of the old town from a custom built in 1645 Map is known. Archaeological excavations have brought to light some of the material, which can now be visited in the Helsinki City Museum.

Presence

New Life received Vanhakaupunki only some 100 years ago as one of the suburbs of the now greatly increased Helsinki. There was a residential area with traditional small wooden houses. Also a water treatment plant and a hydroelectric power plant were built at a rapids in Vantaa, which still has power. Part of the complex was later converted into a powerhouse Museum ( Voimalamuseo ); now a part houses the Helsinki Museum of Technology ( Tekniikan museo ).

The actual area (Finnish kaupunginosa ) Vanhakaupunki is only 0.32 km ² in size and has only about 230 inhabitants, and about 850 jobs. It consists only of a partial region, which also bears the name Vanhakaupunki. There is also a city district (Finnish peruspiiri ) called Vanhakaupunki, the addition, the partial areas Toukola, Käpylä, Koskela, Kumpula and Arabianranta covers and has an area of 5.38 km ² and a population of approximately 17,400.

A popular destination in Vanhakaupunki is the green area on the coast of the bay, which in 2000 is part of the Natural program Natura European Union. The extensive reed beds near the estuary are of particular interest to ornithologists because there a total of 285 different, some rare species of birds have been observed so far. For this purpose, several publicly accessible observation towers were created.

Map of 1645 (detail)

Monument to the city's founding

Waterfall in Vantaa