Finland: Uusikaupunki
| The visitors of the Open Day march the gravel streets. Uusikaupunki, Western Finland. August 2011. |
Uusikaupunki (Fin) / Nystad (Swe) [lit. New Town] is a small (pop. 16 000) historical wooden town on the west coast of Finland, on the Baltic Sea. The town was founded by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden on the 19th of April 1617, and it will soon celebrate its 400th birthday. Uusikaupunki has left its mark in the European history. The peace of The Great Northern War - known as theTreaty of Nystad after the Swedish name of the town - was signed in Uusikaupunki in 1721.
What once was a majorly seaman-populated town, then became a town known for its car manufacturers. Nowadays, most of the machinery has left the town quiet apart from the busy summer season. The long summer days bring many tourists over, especially those with boats, who moor in the famour passenger harbour at the heart of the town.
The town sits on a belt of well-preserved wooden towns scattered on the seaside along the west coast of Finland. As well as the quiet, often unpaved gravel streets, Uusikaupunki is known for its impressive old church. For the more modern in mind, the famous Bonk Museum with the most incredible non functioning machines, or if you prefer, pieces of art. The Crusell Week Music Festival in the end of July offers a lot, too.
I visited the town for its Open Day, when many of the private and public wooden buildings were open for visitors to explore and admire, as well as their impressive city-sized gardens to enjoy. Many of the once shared buildings have now been joint to form one grand-scale single-family house.
The town feels old mainly because of its idyllic, quiet streets and the gravel underneath your feet. The locals have a very peculiar accent which brings a smile to the face of others. They are very friendly and talkative, compared to many other towns on the west coast.
Tags
Uusikaupunki
Finland
Suomi
August
elokuu
autumn
syksy
summer
kes
Nystad
history
historia
wooden town
puukaupunki
puutalokaupunki
Westerm Finland
Lnsi-Suomi
Europe
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gustavus adolphus, peculiar accent, western finland, impressive city, swedish name, northern war, quiet streets, wooden buildings, majorly, european history, baltic sea, car manufacturers, seaman, gravel, uusikaupunki, music festival, single family, seaside, west coast, locals
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