Soukka ( Finnish) or Sökö ( Swedish) is district number 33 of

Espoo Espoo (, ; ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the west of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population is approximately . It is the most populous Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. Espoo is part of the Helsi ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, located in southwestern Espoo in the main district of Suur-Espoonlahti.

Early history

Soukka is part of the oldest area in Espoo. The oldest discovered signs of habitation in Soukka are from the early metal age. There have been discoveries of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

cairn A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the (plural ). Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehistory, t ...

s in the area of the old Soukka village. In public documents, Soukka is first mentioned in 1540, written as ''Soijckoby''. The name most likely derives from the Finnish word ''soukka'' "narrow" and originally referred to a narrow strait that separated the area from the mainland. As time passed, the name of the village settled on the Swedish name ''Sökö''. The Finnish Bureau of Geography confirmed the Finnish name as ''Soukka'' in 1965. In the 1590s, the village of Soukka consisted of a single independent

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

and its subsidiary buildings. The rate of growth was slow and in 1865 there were two independent farms in the village, with a total population according to census of 49. By the late 19th century, the population of Soukka had grown to 103. In the late 18th century, building work had started on the Sveaborg

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

off the coast of

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. The construction of the fortress increased demand for

brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...

and brick construction began also in the lands of Soukka. Industrialisation got off to a real start in the late 19th century, when the first industrial area was founded on the coast of Espoonlahti. Brick factories in nearby villages increased demand for workers. This, in turn, caused the population of Soukka to increase as part of the workforce arriving in the area settled down in Soukka. In the 1870s, there emerged a strong community of

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

s in the Soukanniemi area, whose activity lasted until the 1930s. The first of them was Anders Viktor Lindström, the most successful of them was Johan Syrjänen, having bought the southern part of the Staffan island off the coast of Soukanniemi. In wintertime, completed furniture was shipped to Helsinki by

sled A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners ...

on the ice, in summertime by

steam ship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The fir ...

Modern times

Soukka is known for its

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo ...

, the fountain in the centre of the district and the natural environment of the area. Examples of the latter include the Kasavuori hill on the coast of Espoonlahti, an ancient place of signal fires in the defense of the Finnish coastline. Events in Soukka include an annual Soukka Day, held on the second-to-last weekend of July every year. File:Suinonniemi beach in late June.jpg, The Suinonniemi beach is located at the southern end of Soukka, very near the Suvisaaristo islands File:Soko2.jpg, Övergård in Soukka, which has given its name to Yläkartanontie File:Soko1.jpg, The Soukka shopping centre

References

External links

Soukka cultural movement
{{Espoo Districts of Espoo