Virrat (Swedish: Virdois) is a Finnish city located in the
province of Pirkanmaa. The municipality was founded at the beginning
of 1868, the founding decision was made in 1867. Virrat changed from
rural to commercial on 1 January 1974, and from commercial to urban
on 1 January 1977. Virrat previously belonged to Vaasa County, from
where it was transferred to Häme County in early 1969.
In the
Small Encyclopedia published in 1928, Virtain is considered to
belong to Pohjois-Satakunta. The New Encyclopedia, published in the
1960s, mentions Virrat as belonging to the province of Southern
Ostrobothnia. The 1968 Finland Handbook defines Virtain as being
located in Pirkanmaa on the borders of Southern Ostrobothnia and
Central Finland in historic Satakunta.
The streams are home
to 6,536 people and cover an area of 1,299.08 km2, of which 136.41
km2 are water bodies. The population density is 5.62 inhabitants /
km2.
Virta's neighboring municipalities are Alavus, Keuruu,
Kihniö, Mänttä-Vilppula, Ruovesi, Seinäjoki, Ylöjärvi and Ähtäri.
Virtain Church was built in 1772–1774 under the leadership of
church builder Antti Hakola. Virtai Parish belongs to the Diocese of
Lapua.
The municipality is along good road connections between Tampere, Pori
and Jyväskylä. National road 23 between Pori and Jyväskylä, national
road 66 between Orivesi and Lapua, national road 68 passing through
Killinkoski to Ähtäri and on to Pietarsaari, and national road 65 coming
from Tampere on the west side of Näsijärvi intersect near the center.
The area has a lot of small industries and shops. Tuuri village shop,
Ähtäri zoo, Herraskoski canal and Perinnekylä are a short drive away.
The Haapamäki–Pori line, commissioned in 1938, runs through the
city, most of which was closed in 1985. Passenger traffic was closed in
1981 and the last train passed through the city on December 27, 1984.
Nowadays, the nearest train stations are located in the so-called on the
old Ostrobothnia railway (Haapamäki–Seinäjoki railway) in Haapamäki and
Ähtäri. There is a ship route from Tampere to Virroi, Runoilija tie.
In Virtai's landscape, you can see few central Finnish features,
mainly with settlements concentrated on the shores of lakes, extensive
forest areas and large differences in terrain. The highest hill tops
reach more than 200 meters above sea level. The large watershed
Suomenselkä runs across the northwestern part of Virtai. There is plenty
of original forest, lakes and nature. A couple of kilometers from the
center in the direction of Ruovesi, along national road 66, are the
Toriseva gorge lakes, known as a natural attraction. There are a total
of 269 lakes in the municipality and inland waters make up 10.5% of the
municipality's area. The largest lakes are Vaskivesi–Visuvesi, Toisvesi
and Seinäjärvi. Virtai's lakes mainly belong to the headwaters of the
Kokemäenjoki watershed along the Ähtäri and Pihlajavesi routes. Located
in the northwest, Seinäjärvi and its nearby lakes flow down to Seinäjoki
into Kyrönjoki, which in turn flows into Pohjanlahti east of Vaasa. On
Palolammintie, there is a natural attraction, the deep Palolammi ravine
with its rocks.
Midsummer
Virrat is Finland's "official"
Midsummer City - the trademark was registered on July 31, 2002. The
Midsummer announcement is sent from Virrat every Midsummer's Eve at
18:00. The midsummer declaration in poetic form was written by Markku
Sorvari from Virto. In previous years, the declaration has been heard on
the radio, and in 2007 it was broadcast live on the Yle TV2 channel.
Virtai's reputation as a versatile summer cottage community has grown
with the title. A significant part of Pirkanmaa's vacation homes are
located on streams. In the years 1984–1994, Rantarock was also organized
on Midsummer's Eve in Virroi, which gathered tens of thousands of young
audiences.
Food culture
In the 1980s, the main dishes of
Virtai were named block soup cooked from linguine and mullein, rye
lingonberry porridge made with rye, i.e. dessert tirri, and
cumin-flavored varlimppu.
Distances
Although Virtai's location
is central and the transport connections are good, the distances to
nearby municipalities are long. Virrat is located in the area between
Seinäjoki, Jyväskylä, Pori and Tampere. The nearest city center is
Seinäjoki on the South Ostrobothnia side. The distance to the Tuuri
tourist center is 51 kilometers.
Virrat is the only Finnish municipality with a plural name. The inflections associated with the name Virrat are also unique: it is inflected in nonlocal places: Virroilla, Virroilta, Virroille; the possessive form of the name belongs to Virtai (not Virtogen). Virtolainen means a resident of Virtai.
A few 7,500-year-old stone objects from the pre-ceramic period and
one 4,500-year-old clay vessel from the comb pottery period have been
found in the streams. Finnish wild men moved around the Virtai area as
early as the Iron Age, as evidenced by the spearheads and pieces of
swords found in the heaths of Härkönen village. The Lapps are also
thought to have moved in these regions as early as the early Middle
Ages, after which the people of Väläsatakunta began to practice
extensive herding here. The households of Pirkkala, Vesilahti and
Ylä-Sastamala had lot ownership. King Kustaa Vaasa abolished lot
ownership in the middle of the 16th century.
The first settlers
settled in Virtainkylä, Vaskivede, Liedenpohja and Hauhuuse after the
middle of the 16th century. In 1570, Virroi had 25 houses that paid
taxes, and by the beginning of the 18th century, the number of houses
had grown to 47. Virrat originally belonged to Ruovesi keep, which was
separated from Suur-Pirkkala, until it was joined in 1776 to the newly
established county of Vaasa. Virtai's first church was built in the
1650s.
In 1858, Emperor Alexander II ordered the governor of
Vaasa County to carry out the necessary research in the Virtai area for
the establishment of the town. The Finnish senate prepared three town
planning drafts, but the founding of the city was not implemented. In
1886, a woolen spinning mill was established in Killinkoski, which was
converted into a wood grinding mill in 1911. Thanks to the community
that formed around the mill, Killinkoski developed into a settlement the
size of Virtai's church village.
During the war in Finland, a
guerilla unit led by squire Jakob Johan Roth and sergeant Carl Johan
Spoof robbed the warehouses of Russian troops (Roth and Spoof's guerilla
expedition). During the Civil War, there were almost continuous battles
at Vaskivedi in February and March 1918, and because of them the Reds
had to retreat from this northernmost base of their front.
At the
beginning of 1973, the northwestern part of Pohjaslahti municipality,
which was abolished at the time and was mainly connected to Vilppula,
was joined to Virtai, e.g. Monoskylä. At the beginning of the fall
semester of 1975, the streams were transferred to the elementary school
system.
In January 1979, there was a fire in a nursing home in
Virro, where 27 elderly people were killed. It is the second most fatal
fire in Finland after the Lapinlahti municipal home fire in 1966. A
memorial was unveiled in 1989 at the site of the destroyed old people's
home in the village of Jäähdyspohja. In the village of Kotala, there is
a monument to bear hunter Martti Kitusen, which was revealed in 1936.
In the 21st millennium
The Killinkoski bank robbery in 2009
crossed the national news threshold. During the escape, the
Lithuanian-born robber shot a policeman with his handgun, who died from
his injuries. The robber was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Virtai's social security company's delivery of social security services
led to government-level consideration.
In 2020, in December, an
unexplained metal pillar monolith appeared in the Perinnekylä area,
which was later found in Toisvedi.
Virrat is a structurally industrialized agricultural municipality. A significant part of Virroi's economic structure is in agriculture, but Virroi also has extensive small-scale industry. Tourism is also an important way of life in Virri.