Säyneinen is a village and a former municipality of

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, ...

at the time of its existence in the Kuopio Province, now in

Northern Savonia North Savo (or Northern Savonia; ; ) is a Regions of Finland, 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 and Kallavesi, ...

. Together with Muuruvesi, it was consolidated with

Juankoski Juankoski is a former list of towns in Finland, town and List of former municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. In March 2014, the Juankoski city council decided that the town would merge with Kuopio in the beginning of 2017. Juanko ...

in 1971, since 2017 part of

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

Geography

The municipality bordered Juankoski, Muuruvesi,

Rautavaara Rautavaara is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia regions of Finland, region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...

Juuka Juuka (; ) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia 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. Geogr ...

Kaavi Kaavi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. Kaavi is also a part of historical Karelia. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . It is ...

and

Nilsiä Nilsiä is a former small town and a municipality of Finland. It joined the city of Kuopio at the beginning of year 2013. It is located in the Northern Savonia region. The town has a population of (31 December 2012) and covers an area of of whic ...

. The village of Säyneinen is located between two lakes called ''Suuri-Säyneinen'' and ''Pieni-Säyneinen''.

Name

The name of Säyneinen comes from the word ''säyne'', referring to the ide, a fairly common fish in Finland. Another municipality named after this fish was

Säynätsalo Säynätsalo is a former municipality in Finland and a part of Jyväskylä. As of November 2010 its population was 3,340. Säynätsalo municipality consisted of islands of Säynätsalo and Lehtisaari and also a part of Muuratsalo island. All of ...

(via the local word ''säynät'') in

Central Finland Central Finland (; ) is a Regions of Finland, region ( / ) in Finland. It borders the regions of Päijät-Häme, Pirkanmaa, South Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, North Ostrobothnia, Northern Savonia, North Savo, and Southern Savonia, South S ...

. Unlike the names of most municipalities ending in ''-(i)nen'', the declension of ''Säyneinen'' is in the singular: ''Säyneisen, Säyneisessä'' and not in the plural (''*Säyneisten, *Säyneisissä''). This is shared with the name of

Kaustinen Kaustinen () is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population about 4300 and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Halsua, ...

. A person from Säyneinen is called ''säyneisläinen'' or ''säyneeläinen''.

History

Säyneinen is located in historical

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

. Like the modern region of

North Karelia North Karelia (or ''Northern Karelia'', ; ) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finland and share ...

, the area was initially part of the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The ...

, passing to

Muscovy Muscovy or Moscovia () is an alternative name for the Principality of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to: *Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555 *Muscovy duck (''Cairina mosch ...

with the rest of Novgorod in 1478 and remaining under Russian rule until the Swedish conquest of the area finalized by the

Treaty of Stolbovo The Treaty of Stolbovo (; ) was a peace treaty that ended the Ingrian War (), which had been fought between the Swedish Empire and the Russian Tsardom between 1610 and 1617. History After nearly two months of negotiations, representatives from ...

in 1617. Säyneinen itself was first mentioned in 1638 as ''Säynäis''. It was a part of the

Liperi Liperi () is a municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located in the North Karelia regions of Finland, region. Liperi is a community of () with the growth rate of 83 newcomers in 11 months in 2007. The population density is . T ...

parish and since 1670, the chapel community of

. Kaavi became a separate parish in 1802 and a separate municipality in 1875. Säyneinen was separated from Kaavi as a parish in 1917 and as a municipality in 1924. The municipality was consolidated with

in 1971, but the parish remained separate until 2003. Säyneinen became a part of

after Juankoski was consolidated with it in 2017.

Church

The current church of Säyneinen was designed by Sakari Honkavaara and Esko Suhonen. The church was finished in 1939 and it is an example of functionalist architecture. There is a cross in the place of the altarpiece, however the restored altarpiece was placed in the church hall in 2002.

Services

School

Säyneinen had a school for grades 1-6 (''ala-aste'') until 2015. After it was acquired by the town of Kuopio in 2017, the town's government was attempting to sell the school to a private owner. As nobody was willing to buy the school, the municipal government of Kuopio decided to demolish it in 2020.

References

{{NorthernSavonia Kuopio Former municipalities of Finland