Loviisa (Swedish: Lovisa, until 1752 Degerby) is a Finnish city
founded in 1745 in Uusimaa. Loviisa has a population of 14,754
people and an area of 1,751.52 km², of which 25.84 km² is inland
water and 905.94 km² is sea. The population density is 18
inhabitants / km². The city is bilingual, with 55 per cent of its
inhabitants speaking Finnish and 41 per cent Swedish.
The
neighboring municipalities of Loviisa are Kouvola, Lapinjärvi,
Myrskylä, Porvoo and Pyhtää. The city belongs to the Loviisa region.
Pernaja, Liljendal and Ruotsinpyhtää were merged with Loviisa at the
beginning of 2010.
The city of Degerby was founded on the lands of the
Degerby equestrian farm in Pernaja in 1745 as a border and fortress
city. Eastern Finland needed a new staple town in the peace of Turku
in 1743 because of the eastern border. Behind the border was Hamina,
the only town in Eastern Finland. In 1748, the newly established
city began to build a border fortress known as the Loviisa Fortress,
but construction work was interrupted due to the financial
difficulties of the Kingdom of Sweden. Only part of the exterior
equipment was completed in the fortress. The history of the fortress
town is reminiscent of the bastions Rosen and Ungern to the east of
the present center.
King Adad Fredrik of Sweden visited
Degerby in 1752 and gave the city a new name after his wife Loviisa,
Queen Uloviika.
At the same time as the Loviisa Fortress,
construction of the Svartholma Sea Fortress began on the south side
of the city. The purpose of the sea fortress was to protect the city
from the sea and to provide a haven for the Swedish coastal fleet.
The Anglo-French naval division destroyed the island's equipment
during the Crimean War and the fortress was left to decay. Since the
1960s, the fortress has been restored under the direction of the
National Board of Antiquities. Renovations of the fort were
completed by 1998, the island's anniversary year. During the summer,
the island hosts a different program for both locals and tourists.
Guided tours, an exciting children's adventure and the island's own
restaurant attract boaters as well as passengers on the ferry that
runs from the city of Loviisa at regular intervals.
The town
is also known for its old town, which was spared the great fire of
Loviisa in 1855. The old town houses the annex of the Degerby
equestrian farm, which dates back to the 17th century. It is one of
the oldest wooden buildings in Finland. The city also has the only
wooden Seurahuone in Finland that has survived a fire, with a
library-media library following the restoration. The first church in
Loviisa was destroyed in a city fire. The present neo-Gothic Loviisa
Church was consecrated in 1865.
During the Finnish Civil War
on April 7, 1918, the German department Brandenstein landed in
Loviisa White, advancing to Uuteenkylä and Lahti. It left Loviisa on
December 16, 1918, after Germany was defeated in World War I.
Olavi Kaleva, who has been the mayor for 15 years, resigned in
the spring of 2017. The reason for the resignation was a
disagreement with the city government. In December 2017, Jan D.
Oker-Blom took office for a seven-year term.