Kristiinakaupunki (Swedish: Kristinestad) is a city in the province
of Ostrobothnia.
6,244 people live in Kristiinakaupunki, and its
area is 1,679.17 km², of which 14.47 km² are inland waters and 981.45
km² are sea areas. The population density is 9.14 inhabitants/km². The
city is bilingual, and 41.3% of its inhabitants speak Finnish and 54.4%
Swedish as their mother tongue.
Kristiinakaupunki is Finland's
longest currently used municipality name.
The city's name was Koppöstad at first. On March 1, 1651, Governor-General Pietari Brahe renamed the city Christian City (Swedish: Christinae Stadh). Brahe named the city after the then queen Kristina, but it is very possible that he was also thinking of his own wife, Countess Kristina Katarina Stenbock, who died in 1650.
Prehistory and emergence of settlement
The area of
Kristiinankaupunki has been inhabited since the Stone Age, when the
settlement was concentrated near the seashore. There are e.g. Stone Age
residences. In the area of Riarbäck, Bergåsen, Norrviken and Lillsjö.
Bronze Age burial mounds have been found in e.g. From the area of
Uttermossa and Ömossa and Iron Age from Murmossbergen.
The
settlement was established in the Middle Ages. Kristiinankaupunki and
Tiukka are mentioned for the first time in official writings in 1303.
The area of the city was originally inhabited by the Hämälä people. In
the 14th century, immigrants from Sweden were allowed to settle in the
"land of the shameless".
In the 1560s, settlement was
concentrated along the banks of the Lapvärttin and Tiukanjoki. Lapvärtti
was separated from Närpiö in 1594 as its own chapel, in 1607 as a
congregation and the following year as a curate. Siipyy, which
originally belonged to Ulvila, was annexed to Närpiö's chapel at the
beginning of the 17th century.
Establishing a city and trading
In the 16th century, farmers in the area applied for permission to build
a town at the mouth of Tiukanjoki. At that time, the nearest city,
Vaasa, was some distance away, and transporting goods on winding and
bumpy roads required hard work.
Kristiinakaupunki was founded in
1649 by Lapvärtti on the island of Koppö. Pietari Brahe signed the
founding document of Koppöstad and two years later, land surveyor Claes
Claesson drew a site plan for the town at Pietari Brahe's request in
1651 according to the grid pattern of the Renaissance. The station plan
is still mostly in use. In the same year, the city received the rights
of a country town.
Kristiinakaupunki grew rapidly after its
foundation. In the first spirit book from 1654, 94 food districts are
mentioned. The school started in 1653 when the pedagogy of
Kristiinankaupunki was founded. The official language was Swedish, but
Finland had an important position, as some of the burghers and servants
had moved to the city from a Finnish-speaking area.
In the 17th
century, trading was the most important way of life in Christian Town,
and trade relations extended to Stockholm, Tallinn, Narva and Lübeck.
The people of Lapvärt and Närpö traded with the Christians, but also
continued to sail as peasants in their own boats.
Ulrika
Eleonora's church, which was built on the church hill between 1698 and
1700, has been preserved from the 18th century. The building stock of
the middle of the 18th century is represented by the larger ensembles of
wooden houses in the inner city.
The capital of the merchant
fleet
Kristiinakaupunki became an important shipping town in the 19th
century, when Kristiinakaupungi was granted the rights of a settlement
city. Foreign sailing and trade increased strongly, and one of the
largest merchant fleets in the country was located in
Kristiinankaupunki. The actual long-distance sailings began in the
1840s, when the Hoppet ship sailed to the West Indies, captained by Carl
August Snellman, brother of J. V. Snellman. Christian ships visited e.g.
in New York, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney and Yokohama. In 1853, the value of
Kristiinankaupunki's trade was about 11% of the entire country's trade,
and the most important export articles were tar and timber.
The
increase in wealth was also reflected in spiritual life. Merchants and
ship owners maintained a colorful social and cultural life, the most
visible form of which was represented by the Sällskapsteatern. A new
stone town hall designed by E. B. Lohrmann was completed in
Kristiinakaupunki in 1856 and a massive brick church a few years
earlier.
At the end of the 19th century, Kristiinankaupunki's
economic development declined and shipbuilding lost its importance when
steamships became common. The port of Kristiina was overshadowed by the
ports of Pori and Vaasa, and peasant sailing in the region was also
suppressed.
The chapel congregation in Siipy was separated into
its own congregation in 1860, and the chapel congregation in
Kristiinankaupunki was formed into an independent congregation in 1897.
The villages of Tiuka and Puskamarki remained connected to the city
congregation.
Development as a city
The countryside
surrounding the city developed at the end of the 19th century. The crown
distillery was located in Tiuka, and several mills were located on the
banks of Tiukanjoki.
In the 19th century, the population of the
region increased rapidly, which also led to population pressure. There
was a lot of emigration from Kristiina to North America.
On
January 31, 1918, the Battle of Kristiinakaupunki took place, which was
the only battle between the Reds and Whites in Southern Ostrobothnia
during the Finnish Civil War.
In 1972, the continuous decrease of
the population and weak economic development led to a large municipal
union. Since 1973, the current Kristiinakaupunki has included, in
addition to the center of Kristiinakaupunki, the former municipalities
of Tiukka, Siipyy and Lapväärtti. At the time of the merger,
Kristiinakaupunki became one of the largest cities in Finland in terms
of surface area.
Kristiinankaupunki is located about one hundred kilometers from both
Vaasa, Seinäjoki and Pori. Its neighboring municipalities are Isojoki,
Karijoki, Merikarvia, Närpiö and Teuva.
In Kristiinakaupunki, in
the area of the former Lapvärt municipality, lies the highest terrain
point in the province of Ostrobothnia, Bötombergen or Pyhävuori, the
highest of which reaches 130 meters above sea level.
Kristiinakaupunki is the only one of Ostrobothnia's six 16th- and
17th-century cities that has been spared major fires. The city is
considered one of the best-preserved wooden cities in the Nordic
countries. The city's first church burned down at the end of the 18th
century after being ignited by a lightning strike. Ulrika Eleonora's
church was built in place of this in 1700, which today has been restored
to its original state and is partially in use. The current main church
was built in the 1890s.
The town located around the mouth of
Teuvanjoki is connected by a stone bridge over 300 meters long. Starting
from the neoclassical style Raatihuone, the Raatihuone park leads to a
square and a stone bridge. The school building on top of Kasberget was
designed by Lars Sonck.
Many buildings in the city date from the
18th and 19th centuries. The 18th-century Lebell merchant house is now a
museum.
There are a total of 35 lakes in Kristiinakaupunki. The largest of them are Härkmerifjärden, Storträsket and Blomträsket.
Kristiinankaupunki's Natura destinations are the forest areas east of the city center Pohjoislahti metsä and Tiilitehtaanmäki, as well as Kristiinakaupungi's archipelago, Lapvärt wetlands, Lapvärtinjokilaakso and Pyhävuori, which is considered both geologically and biologically one of the most valuable rock areas in Western Finland.
Kristiinankaupunki's biggest industries are tourism and agriculture.
In agriculture, the main focus is on potato cultivation, and
Kristiinankaupunki is Finland's largest food potato producer.
Kristiinankaupunki's biggest employers are Puucomp, which manufactures
surface materials, and Nordautomation, which specializes in log
processing. The largest companies in terms of turnover are the logistics
company RL-Trans and the potato company Potwell. In 2021, the screw
product manufacturer Botnia Bolt was also among the biggest corporate
income tax payers in Kristiinankaupunki.
In 2009, the potato
cultivation area was approximately 2,700 hectares. Finland's Estrella
had a potato chip factory from 1988-2004. Sour cream-flavored potato
chips were invented at the Kristiinankaupunki potato chip factory.
Tradition
Kristiinankaupunki's traditions include erecting
Christmas crosses, as is typical for Ostrobothnia. Setting up the
Christmas cross dates back to pagan times, when the cross was used to
scare away evil spirits. Kristiinakaupunki has its own Christmas cross,
called Wendelin's cross.
Kristiinaukaupunki is known for its
traditional markets, which are held four times a year. In 2021, the
summer market organized in July had 360 sellers and more than 60,000
visitors over three days.
Potatoes play a big role in Kristiinakaupunki's food tradition, and the city is Finland's largest producer of potatoes. Potatoes are grown in the city on about 3,000 hectares, and no less than a third of Finland's food potatoes are grown in Kristiinakaupunki. In the 1980s, herring potatoes were named Kristiinankaupunki's signature dish.
The center of Kristiinankaupunki with its low wooden houses and
narrow alleys is rare in the whole of Pohjola. During its 350 years of
existence, there has not been a single major fire in the city. In the
inner city is also known for its narrowness, Kissanpiiskaajankuja.
Today, the well-preserved old town serves as the center of trade and
entertainment in the region, and there are various shops and services.
Tourism and leisure housing have become an important source of income
for the city in the 21st century.
On the border of
Kristiinankaupunki and Karijoki, there is a possibly 120,000-year-old
human camping site called Susiluola, located in a rock cave. The city
and the Finnish Museum Agency work together to develop the cultural use
of the cave.
Sports clubs from Kristiina town include Kristiina kärpäset (hockey), Kristiina Urheilijat (athletics, skiing, swimming), IF Länken (powerlifting, badminton, athletics, skiing, cycling), Sporting Kristina (soccer) and SC Saragoza (floor bandy).