Suonenjoki (; literally means "vein's river") is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than city, cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares ...

and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality ...

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 Bo ...

. It is located in the

Northern Savonia North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, southwest of the

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

city. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

Suonenjoki is thought to have served as a milestone in the

Treaty of Nöteborg The Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as the ''Treaty of Oreshek'' ( sv, Freden i Nöteborg, Russian: ''Ореховский мир,'' fi, Pähkinäsaaren rauha), is a conventional name for the peace treaty signed at Oreshek ( sv, Nöteborg, fi ...

in 1323. In the 16th and 17th centuries, more and more people began to change in the area, and in the 18th century, a

preacher room A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

was established in Suonenjoki, then a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

. In the current agglomeration, bridges over the river of Suonenjoki were built early, ''Kruunusilta'' (literally means "Crowns Bridge") already existed in 1780, and ''Siioninsilta'' (means "Zion Bridge") at the beginning of the river was replaced by a bridge in the 1830s.Suonenjoen keskustan ja Iisveden kulttuuriympäristö
(in Finnish) When Suonenjoki gained municipal rights in 1865, the population was about 4,000. In the same year,

Suonenjoki Church Suonenjoki (; literally means "vein's river") is a town and municipality of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Swe ...

, the current church in Suonenjoki was completed, replacing the cramped first church built in the late 18th century. A railway station was built on Suonenjoki in connection with the completion of ''The Savonian Railway'' (also known as Kouvola–Iisalmi railway) in 1889. In the early 20th century, the sawmill industry became the most important industry in the area. Strawberry cultivation became more widespread from the 1940s, and Suonenjoki became known as "the Strawberry Town".Suonenjoen mansikka 100 vuotta: kaikki alkoi kansakoulunopettaja Leskisen 12 taimesta
(in Finnish) The Suonenjoki co-educational school began operations in 1930, and it moved to the current

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

building in 1950.

Geography

The neighbouring municipalities of Suonenjoki are Rautalampi to the west, Tervo to the northwest,

to the north, Leppävirta to the east, and Pieksämäki to the south on the

Southern Savonia South Savo (or Southern Savonia; fi, Etelä-Savo; sv, Södra Savolax) is a region in the south-east of Finland. It borders the regions of North Savo, North Karelia, South Karelia, Kymenlaakso, Päijät-Häme, and Central Finland. The total a ...

side. Suonenjoki River flows through the town from Lake Suontee to Lake Iisvesi. Near the city center is the 10-kilometer-long and at most a couple of kilometers wide scenic Lintharju, which is also part of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

Natura 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...

conservation program.VisitSavo - Luonto
(in Finnish)

Villages

* Herrala * Hulkkola * Jauhomäki * Karkkola * Kukkola * Kutumäki * Kutunkylä * Kuvansi * Käpylä * Kärkkäälä * Lempyy * Liedemäki * Luukkola * Lyytilänmäki * Markkala * Nuutila * Piispalanmäki * Pörölänmäki * Rajalanniemi * Rieponlahti * Sydänmaa * Toholahti * Tyyrinmäki * Vauhkola * Vehvilä * Viippero * Jalkala * Karsikonmäki * Suontee * Suihkola * Kolikkoinmäki * Kinnula

Culture

Suonenjoki is famous for its

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of the genus ''Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The f ...

giving the town its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

, three strawberry leaves. It is also known as "the Strawberry Town". Many foreigners, mainly from Ukraine and Russia, come to Suonenjoki in summer to work on strawberry farms. That makes Suonenjoki the most international town of Finland at summer. There is a party in Suonenjoki in July called ''Mansikkakarnevaalit'', "".Visit Suonenjoki
/ref> There was also a rock festival named Jörisrock, the last "Jöris" was held in 2006. Nowadays, "Jöris" has been replaced by a music event called Iisrock. There is also three

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and th ...

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

and artshow. Newspaper ''Sisä-Savo'' is published in Suonenjoki and nearby municipalities.

Transportation

Suonenjoki is situated between two important cities,

and

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capit ...

, and the main road 9 ( E63) between those cities goes through Suonenjoki. The railway between Kuopio and

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

goes also through the center of Suonenjoki.

Notable people

* Veijo Baltzar, author and visual artist *

Aatu Hämäläinen Aatu Hämäläinen (born 28 February 1987) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player playing for Iisalmen Peli-Karhut in Mestis, the second-tier league in Finland. He previously played in the SM-liiga for KalPa, TPS and HPK Hämeenlinnan P ...

, ice hockey player * Kalle Jalkanen,

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

Erkki Junkkarinen Erkki Aukusti Junkkarinen (22 April 1929 in Suonenjoki – 9 April 2008 in Hämeenlinna) was a Finnish singer. Junkkarinen established his musical career in 1950 with his successful single ''Yksinäinen harmonikka'', though in the following y ...

, singer *

Lauri Kerminen Lauri Kalle Juhani Kerminen (born 18 January 1993) is a Finnish professional volleyball player who plays as a libero for Dynamo Moscow. He used to play for the Finland national team. Honours Club * CEV Cup ** 2020–21 – with Dynamo Moscow * ...

, volleyball player *

Rakel Liekki Tiina-Rakel Liekki (born 20 September 1979 in Suonenjoki) is a Finnish artist, freelance journalist, writer, director and producer, and former pornographic actress. Career Liekki is one of the best-known Finnish adult filmmakers, and was dubbed ...

freelance journalist ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...

and former

pornstar A pornographic film actor or actress, pornographic performer, adult entertainer, or porn star is a person who performs sex acts in video that is usually characterized as a pornographic movie. Such videos tend to be made in a number of dist ...

Rauno Miettinen Rauno Miettinen (born 25 May 1949 in Kuopio) is a Finnish former Nordic combined skier. He earned a silver in the individual event at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. Miettinen also won three Nordic combined silver medals in the FIS Nordic W ...

Nordic combined skier Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever Winter Olympics in 1924, while the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup ...

* Iiro Pakarinen, ice hockey player in

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

Markku Rossi Markku Kalevi Rossi (born 5 March 1956) is a Finnish politician from the Centre Party. He was a representative in the Parliament of Finland from 1991 to 1995, briefly in 1999 and from 2000 to 2019. He has stated that he wouldn't seek another term ...

, politician * Liisa Suihkonen, cross-country skier * Kari Tapio,

country & western Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, o ...

and schlager singer

References

External links

Town of Suonenjoki
– Official website
Suonenjoen kesäkartta
– A summer map of Suonenjoki from the town site {{authority control Populated places established in 1865 Cities and towns in Finland