Keuruu, formerly Keuru (Swedish: Keuru), is a Finnish city located in the province of Central Finland, 60 kilometers west of Jyväskylä. The city is home to about 9,500 people, in addition to which there are plenty of holiday homes in Keuruu.
Geography and nature
The neighboring municipalities of Keuruu
are Jämsä, Multia, Mänttä-Vilppula, Petäjävesi, Virrat and Ähtäri.
Of the neighboring municipalities, Ähtäri belongs to Southern
Ostrobothnia, Virrat and Mänttä-Vilppula to Pirkanmaa and others to
Central Finland.
Highway 23 divides the city in an east-west
direction, from the south becomes main road 58. Haapamäki is a
railway crossing station: the railway from Haapamäki to Jyväskylä
runs through the center of Keuruu.
Keuruu is a hilly and
forested municipality, the nature of which reflects the presence of
Suomenselä. There are many lakes and bogs in Keuruu. The church
village of Keuruu is also located by the water. There is a little
over a tenth of the surface area of Keuruu. The largest lake is
Keurusselkä and the associated Ukonselkä.
There are nine
Natura sites in the Keuruu area, in whole or in part: Hirvijärvi,
Huhkojärvi's long and narrow gorge lake, Pihlajavesi and upstream
small waters, Pihlajavesi route favored by otters and trout, Raiski
forests, Siipikangas, Tuomistonjoki, Vesilahdensuo - Kurkisuo ja -
Kurkisuo
Parts of the central city of Keuruu
Loila,
Suojärvi, Suolahti, Kurkiniemi, Ketvelniemi, Kivelä, Keuruunkylä,
Pappilanniemi, Nyyssänniemi, Otava, Mustasaari, Melonsaari
Villages
South Keuruu, Haapamäki, Jukojärvi, Liesjärvi,
Pihlajavesi, Valkealahti, Ampiala, Karimo, Kivijärvi, Lavikko,
Riiho, Lihjamo, Kaleton
History
The parish of Keuruu was
founded in 1652. Before that, it was the Ruovesi chapel parish
called Lapinsalmi from 1628. Since then, Multia and Pihlajavesi
separated from Keuruu, but Pihlajavesi rejoined Keuruu in 1969.
Keuruu was planned in the 1970s, but this did not materialize.
Instead, Keuruu became a city in 1986.
Keuruu was home to the
Pioneer Regiment, which had been part of the Defense Forces since
1967. It trained about a thousand pioneer and conservation
conscripts each year. In all, it managed to train a total of about
50,000 conscripts. The regiment had 250 employees. The pioneer
regiment was disbanded in late 2014, and the last rookies entered
service in January 2014.