Rauma (Swedish: Raumo) is a Finnish city founded in 1442 in
southern Satakunta. It has a population of 39,015. The city covers
an area of 1,110.13 km², of which 496.02 km² is land, 13.71 km² is
inland waterways and 600.40 km² is sea. The Rauma region consists of
Eura, Eurajoki and Säkylä. At the end of 2009, the region had 65,794
inhabitants.
Rauma is located on the eastern shore of the
Bothnian Sea, surrounded by Eura, Eurajoki, Laitila and Pyhäranta.
The city is located 49 kilometers south of Pori and 94 kilometers
north of Turku.
Rauma is the fourth oldest city in Finland
after Turku, Porvoo and Ulvila (the fifth oldest if Vyborg is
included). Rauma is a port city, thanks to which the Rauma dialect
has been influenced especially by Sweden and England, but also by
France, Russia and Estonia. The Rauma dialect (“giäl”) is a
southwestern dialect that is clearly different from the Turku
dialect. Rauma is a monolingual Finnish-speaking municipality.
Rauma is the only one in Finland with two UNESCO World Heritage
Sites. Old Rauma, the largest unified and well-preserved old wooden
house area in the Nordic countries, which is a lively and beautiful
city center; full of museums, shops, restaurants and homes. Another
of the sites is the Bronze Age cemetery area Sammallahdenmäki.
Rauma is known for its dialect, lace-making, marine and forest
industry. Rauma received the City Center of the Year award in 2009
and the Cycling Association of the Year award in 2010.
The city of Rauma is considered to have been founded
on April 15, 1442, when Charles Knuutinpoika Bonde granted the
bourgeoisie of Rauma the right to trade and enjoy all the benefits,
privileges and freedoms afforded by law and justice to the burghers
of Turku on behalf of the then King of the Kalmar Union, Christopher
Bavaria. Rauma had already been the commercial and religious center
of the region before the privileges were granted. The church of the
Holy Cross and the ruins of the Church of the Holy Trinity,
originally built as the church of the Franciscan monastery in Rauma,
remain from this period.
In 1550, King Gustav Vaasa founded
the city of Helsinki. The king and his advisers thought that a few
large growth centers would be better than several small towns for
the kingdom, so the bourgeoisie from Rauma was also ordered to move
to Helsinki. Part of the bourgeoisie obeyed the king's order, but
many remained in Rauma; especially when only men moved to Helsinki.
Drunken burghers from Rauma were chased for several years from
around Rauma, most of them were fined and the most awkward were
threatened with the death penalty. The situation calmed down
considerably after the bourgeoisie received permission to return in
1557.
In the 16th century, the city burned down many times,
but nonetheless, shipping was worthwhile and Rauma bourgeois and
sailors traded with their own ships in Sweden, Germany and the
Baltics, as well as in the North Sea. Timber and tableware were
exported, and salt, fabrics, and beverages were imported on the
return ships. From the end of the 16th century to the 18th century,
the development of the city was at a standstill due to the policy of
centralizing the Swedish Empire. Among other things, foreign sailing
was banned for 130 years, starting in 1636, when goods could only be
exported to Stockholm and Turku. In addition, competing cities were
established at the same time, such as Uusikaupunki south of Rauma
and eight other cities in Ostrobothnia. The last fire that destroyed
almost the entire city took place in 1682.
Rauma's sailing
ship period was at its best in the 19th century, when its sailing
fleet was the largest in Finland. Most of the wooden houses in Old
Rauma also date from the same period. At the end of the 19th
century, Rauma invested funds received from the sea in development:
a railway was built from the city to Kokemäki and a museum and a
teacher's seminar were established in the city.
In the 20th
century, Rauma changed from a shipping and school city to an
industrial city, as a result of which there were no more sailing
ships there after the 1950s. Industrial and population development
was rapid, especially after World War II. As a result of rapid
growth, at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, almost the entire old
wooden house area was threatened with demolition. In the end,
however, only one building on the edge of the market square was
demolished and replaced by a new brick house. Old Rauma was added to
the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1991.
In 1821, a spa was
established in Rauma in connection with a well-known health source
in the previous century, where traditional water treatments were
given. The Rauma spa was still popular in the 1830s, but the
dilapidated buildings were demolished in 1857.
A spa hotel is
planned for the Fåfänga area, with the design phase ending in summer
2015.