Heinola

Sister cities

• Peine
• Karlshamn Municipality
• Piešťany
• Baranavichy

History

Heinola used to be a remote village of then larger Hollola until it gained significance in 1776 when Gustav III of Sweden promoted it to be the governmental center of the province in which it was then located. The grid plan of the city center is from that era. Heinola also became a center of commerce for nearby regions. When Finland became a part of Russia in 1809, the capital of the province was moved eastwards with the state border. To compensate this, Heinola was granted town rights on 26 December 1839 by Czar Nicholas I. Before World War II, Heinola was widely known as a spa town, and until 1972 it served as a location for an institute (seminaari) that taught elementary school teachers. These both were established in the 1890s and played an important role in the town life. The actual competition happened in nearby Joutsa. Heinolan maalaiskunta was merged into Heinola in 1997.

Geography

Heinola is largely situated between two lakes, Ruotsalainen and Konnivesi. A waterway connecting the lakes crosses the town and is, along with an esker also crossing the town, a characterising geographical feature of Heinola. A motorway (Finnish national road 4/E75) connects Heinola to Lahti (distance ) and Helsinki (distance ); it also acrosses Lake Ruotsalainen on the Tähtiniemi Bridge in the northern part of town. Heinola is also southern head of the Finnish national road 5, which goes over 900 kilometres to the north through the cities Kuopio and Kajaani to Sodankylä.

Most-observed species

• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  532
• Willow Warbler

  Phylloscopus trochilus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  408
• Green-veined White

  Pieris napi (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  390
• Brimstone

  Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  346
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  333
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  308
• Garden Lupin

  Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl. · Magnoliopsida
  304
• Ringlet

  Aphantopus hyperantus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  281

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2011-03-19
  Finland