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

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

and

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

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 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 regi ...

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: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

is . The municipality is unilingually

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

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 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 ty ...

. 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 Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in 1865, the population was about 4,000. In the same year, Suonenjoki Church, 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 The Savonian railway ( fi, Savon rata, sv, Savolaxbanan) is a 1,524 mm (5 ft) railway in Finland. Beginning in Kouvola, it connects southern Finland with the eastern regions of South Savo and North Savo via the cities of Pieksämäki, Kuopio a ...

) 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 Rautalampi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Neigh ...

to the west,

Tervo Tervo is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of (), making it Northern Savonia's least populous municipality. It covers an area ...

to the northwest,

to the north,

Leppävirta Leppävirta () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, south of Kuopio along the Finnish national road 5. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densit ...

to the east, and

Pieksämäki Pieksämäki () is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about north of Mikkeli, east of Jyväskylä and south of Kuopio. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The ...

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 area ...

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 des ...

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, respectively ...

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 species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

giving the town its

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

, 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, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

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 vir ...

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 capital of ...

, 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 Veija "Veijo" Oskari Baltzar (born June 9, 1942) is a Romanis, Romani author and visual artist from Finland. Baltzar's artistic output comprises over 72 literary works, including novels, short stories, plays and musicals, a film, librettos and ...

, author and visual artist * Aatu Hämäläinen, ice hockey player *

Kalle Jalkanen Kalle Jalkanen (10 May 1907 in Suonenjoki – 5 September 1941 in Kirjasalo) was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the late 1930s. He won a gold medal at the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the 4 × 10 km relay. ...

, cross-country skier * Erkki Junkkarinen, singer * Lauri Kerminen, volleyball player * Rakel Liekki,

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 w ...

and former pornstar *

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 *

Iiro Pakarinen Iiro Pakarinen (born 25 August 1991) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player for HIFK of Liiga. Pakarinen previously played in Liiga with KalPa, and has also played in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with Jokerit, Metallurg Magnitogorsk ...

, 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, politician *

Liisa Suihkonen Liisa Suihkonen (born 27 September 1943) is a former cross-country skier from Finland who competed during the 1970s. She was born in Suonenjoki, Northern Savonia. She won a silver medal in the 4 × 5 km relay at the 1976 Winter Olympics T ...

, cross-country skier *

Kari Tapio Kari Tapani Jalkanen (22 November 1945 – 7 December 2010), better known by his stage name Kari Tapio, was a Finnish schlager and country & western singer. During his career, he was one of the most popular singers in Finland for decades; having ...

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, old ...

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