Nastola is a former 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 Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It was merged with the city of

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

on 1 January 2016. In the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Southern Finland, Nastola is part of the

Päijät-Häme Päijät-Häme () is a region in Southern Finland south of the lake Päijänne. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Pirkanmaa, Central Finland, South Savo and Kymenlaakso. The biggest city in the region is Laht ...

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 an ...

. The municipality had a population of (30 June 2015) and covered an area of of which was 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 ...

was . Nastola is located between two major cities:

and

Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region of Kymenlaakso, kilometers east of Lahti, west of Lappeenranta and northeast of the capital, Helsinki. With Kotka, Kouvola is ...

Kausala Kausala is a village and administrative center in Iitti municipality in Päijänne Tavastia, Finland. Kausala has a population of 3,775, which makes it the largest village of the municipality in terms of population. The significance of Kausala for ...

, the administrative center of

Iitti Iitti (; sv, Itis) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population ...

, is away from Nastola in the direction of Kouvola. The municipality was 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

Ornamental items, presumed to date back to the 1200s, have been found in the village of Ruuhijärvi. Although the items are of Karelian design, scholars agree that they are not necessarily indicative of Karelian settlement in Nastola. Additionally, English, German and Scandinavian coins have been found in Immilä. Etymologic research indicates that the earliest settlers in Nastola originated from contemporary

Asikkala Asikkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in Vääksy, at the shores of the Lake Päijänne. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. Asikkala's neighboring municipalities are H ...

and

Hollola Hollola () is a municipality of Finland, located in the western part of the Päijänne Tavastia region. The municipality is unilingually Finnish and has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density Pop ...

, in addition to the surroundings of lake

Vanajavesi Vanajavesi is a large lake in southern Finland, in the provinces of Pirkanmaa and Kanta-Häme. It is part of the Kokemäenjoki basin. The lake gathers waters from a wide area in the regions of Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper and parts of the Päijä ...

; indeed, Ruuhijärvi, then covering most of what is now known as Nastola, became one of the quarters of the administrative parish of Asikkala in the 1500s. The name of Nastola may be of Karelian origin, referring to a Karelian male name ''Nasto'' (folk form of Anastasios). The first administrative center over the area was Uusikylä ( sv, Nyby), which was also the name of an administrative unit within the

and later the

parish in the 15th century. The first church in the area was built in the village of Nastola (first mentioned in 1478), which gave its name to the chapel community and the later parish. Nastola became an independent parish in 1860. Nastola was consolidated with Lahti in 2016.

Geography

Nastola is wedged between the first and second

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 ...

s, the former of which is a prominent feature in the terrain and landscape of the southern part of the municipality. In the west, it splits in two distinct ridges around the village of Villähde, and reaches it highest point in the parish village at above sea level. Moving further east towards

, the ridge becomes narrower and its ridgelines steepen in the surroundings of Uusikylä. The area between the Salpausselkäs is characterized by its

esker An esker, eskar, eschar, or os, sometimes called an ''asar'', ''osar'', or ''serpent kame'', is a long, winding ridge of stratified sand and gravel, examples of which occur in glaciated and formerly glaciated regions of Europe and North Ame ...

s and

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

s. The esker of Vahteristonmäki, reaching past lake Kymijärvi further north into

Heinola Heinola () is a town and a municipality of inhabitants () located in the eastern part of the Päijänne Tavastia region, Finland, near the borders of the South Savonia region and the Kymenlaakso region. It is the third largest municipality in ...

, peaks at above sea level in Nastola.

Till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

is the dominant type of soil in central and northern Nastola, with

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

deposits mostly being concentrated to the south of the first Salpausselkä, as well as around the lakes of Ruuhijärvi, Sylvöjärvi and Oksjärvi. The till areas are dotted with bedrock protrusions, such as the high Ukonvuori hill in the east. The rocks on the south side of the Salpausselkäs tend to be lower and more rounded, and the majority of the bedrock consists of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

. All of the lakes of Nastola, which are also all part of the Kymijärvi

drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, ...

, are situated to the north of the first Salpausselkä; to its south are several smaller streams of water.

List of villages

Arrajoki, Immilä, Koiskala, Lankila, Pyhäntaka, Ruuhijärvi, Uusikylä, Vanaja, Villähde, Kirkonkylä, Rakokivi, Seesta- Luhtaanmaa, Järvinen, Tapiola.

Attractions

Pajulahti Sports Institute Pajulahti Sports Institute ( fi, Liikuntakeskus Pajulahti) is a sports and leisure centre, situated in Nastola, Lahti, Finland. It is about an hour's drive away from Helsinki area, and fifteen minutes drive from Lahti city centre. Pajulahti has a ...

* Anni Kaste Memorial stone * Defenders of the home country memorial stone * Nastola cemetery * German memorial * King's Ridge observation tower * King's fountain * Ruuhijärvi cultural landscape * Mountain Troll's observation tower * Engel's storehouse * Immilä mill * Kumia mill * Nastola church * Nastola history museum * Taarasti Art Center

Notable people from Nastola

Adelaïde Ehrnrooth Lovisa Adelaïde Ehrnrooth (17 January 1826 – 31 May 1905) was a Finnish feminist and writer. Adelaïde Ehrnrooth was born in Nastola, one of the 16 children of an aristocratic family.''Suomen kulttuurihistoria'', p. 59. Editor in chief Laur ...

, feminist author *

Elsi Borg Elsi Naemi Borg (October 3, 1893 – December 30, 1958) was a Finland, Finnish architect. Life She was born in Nastola and died in Helsinki. She graduated from Helsinki University of Technology in 1919. She designed the infamous children’s hos ...

, architect *

Eduard Polón Ulrik Wilhelm Eduard Polón (16 June 1861 – 30 September 1930) was a Finnish business leader and a political patriot during the country's years of oppression. Under his leadership, a rubber industry was launched in the country. He was the found ...

, founder of

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...

, Formula 1 driver *

Veli-Matti Lindström Veli-Matti Lindström (born 15 November 1983) is a Finnish former ski jumper. His career best achievement was a silver medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in the team large hill event. He also won a silver medal in the team event ...

, ski jumper

References

External links

*
Municipality of Nastola
– Official website {{authority control *Nastola Former municipalities of Finland