Imatrankoski (The Imatra Rapids) are

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

on the

Vuoksi The Vuoksi (russian: Вуокса, historically: "Uzerva"; fi, Vuoksi; sv, Vuoksen) is a river running through the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus from Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland to Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia. The ri ...

Imatra Imatra is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. Imatra is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border with Russia. On the other side of the border, away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk. ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It has been a famous tourist attraction since the late 1700s. Imatrankoski is also one of the

National landscapes of Finland National landscapes of Finland were selected by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment in 1992 as a part of the 75th anniversary of the Independence of Finland. The 27 selected landscapes represent the special environmental and cultural features o ...

. Since 1929, the rapids has been blocked by a dam as the Imatra hydroelectric plant began operation. Today, the dam is opened daily between June and August (Wednesday to Sunday, at 18:00) as well as on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.Imatrankoski rapids
Go Saimaa. Retrieved 7 March 2015.Imatrankoski
Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 7 March 2015.

Geological history

The Vuoksi and Imatrankoski were born about 5,000 BP as the waters of the

Saimaa Lake Saimaa ( , ; sv, Saimen) is a lake located in the Finnish Lakeland area in southeastern Finland. At approximately , it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth largest natural freshwater lake in Europe. The name Saimaa likely comes from a ...

penetrated the

Salpausselkä Salpausselkä (; "Bar Ridge") is an extensive ridge system left by the ice age in Southern Finland. It is a large terminal moraine formation that formed in front of the Baltic ice lake during the Younger Dryas period about 12,250–10,400 years ...

end moraine due to

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

, forming a river flowing first into the Gulf of Finland and then to

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga (; rus, Ла́дожское о́зеро, r=Ladozhskoye ozero, p=ˈladəʂskəjə ˈozʲɪrə or rus, Ла́дога, r=Ladoga, p=ˈladəɡə, fi, Laatokka arlier in Finnish ''Nevajärvi'' ; vep, Ladog, Ladoganjärv) is a fresh ...

Tourism

Tourism in Imatrankoski is considered begun in 1772 as the Empress of Russia

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

visited the site. The Kruununpuisto Park, the oldest nature park in Finland, was established in 1842 by the Emperor Nicholas I. At the end of the 19th century, Imatrankoski was one of the best known nature attractions in Europe. The hotel Valtionhotelli was finally opened in 1903.

Gallery

File:Imatrankoski vapaana.jpg, A 19th century sketch of the Imatrankoski rapid File:ImatraExpress.jpg, The dam File:Imatrankoski Valtionhotelli ilma.jpg, Hotel Valtionhotelli at the Kruununpuisto Park File:Imatrankosken alapaviljonki 2017 05.jpg, Engraved signature by Emperor

Pedro II of Brazil Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...

while visiting Imatrankoski in 1876.Emperor Pedro II of Brazil in Finland
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References

{{coord, 61, 10, 10.2, N, 028, 46, 25.1, E, region:FI-02_type:waterbody, display=title Rapids Imatra Tourist attractions in South Karelia