Iisalmi (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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' ...

in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

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, ...

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, ...

. It is located north 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 ...

and south of

Kajaani Kajaani (; ), is a town in Finland and the regional capital of Kainuu. Kajaani is located southeast of Oulujärvi, Lake Oulu, which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulujoki, Oulu River. The population of Kajaani is approximately , w ...

. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second largest of the five towns in Northern Savonia in population, only Kuopio being larger. It covers an area of of which is water. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. In the 2010s, Iisalmi is known as an export industry town, as well as a significant study town in the region.

History

Iisalmi traces its roots back to 1627, when the parish of Iisalmi was formed around the local church. The town's old wooden church, Gustav Adolf Church, was consecrated in 1780. In the 18th century, when

was under Swedish control,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

was frequently at war with

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

, and the area of Koljonvirta in Iisalmi was a battlefield on which one of the greatest Swedish victories (and the last Swedish victory on Finnish soil) occurred. However, Sweden lost its last war with Russia and had to surrender Finland to the Russian Empire in 1809. Iisalmi gained its status as town on October 20, 1891.Iisalmi: Historia
(in Finnish)

Geography

There are 111

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

s in the Iisalmi region, the largest of which are Lake Onkivesi, Lake Haapajärvi, Lake Porovesi and Lake Nerkoo.

Economy

Olvi, the last big independent beer

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

in Finland, has its factory and headquarters in Iisalmi. (Other big Finnish breweries have been bought by multinational companies.) Genelec, a manufacturer of active monitors and loudspeakers] used in recording studios worldwide, has its factory and headquarters in Iisalmi. Normet, engineers and manufacturers of mechanised equipment for underground rock-mining and tunnelling, also has its factory and headquarters in Iisalmi. Profile Vehicles makes ambulances and police cars. Iisalmi has its own

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

on the VR network. The line between Iisalmi and Oulu was electrified in December 2006, replacing diesel haulage of trains.

Culture

Events

Iisalmi, even though being a relatively small town, has many cultural events on small and somewhat larger scales. One memorable event, of the many, is "''Rompepäivät''", which translates as "the days of old junk and stuff". People gather together bringing various old items, from small sewing needles to old tractors, for everyone to see and many small things to be sold. A few old restored cars, trucks, motorcycles and tractors, some of them Finnish-made, are displayed for others to see. Here people talk about "good old times" or wonder over "ancient artifacts". Sometimes some of the finely restored machines are for sale to anyone interested to buy—of course if they can afford it. "''Oluset"'' is a music festival organized each July annually. The main sponsor is local brewery company Olvi. "''Oluset"'' roughly translates to "a few beers". Also a smaller festival, "''Limuset"'' ("Little soft drink festival" is organize as well by Olvi. "''Limuset"'' is mainly dedicated to kids and young people, and no alcoholic drinks are sold in the area.

Food

Ravintola Kuappi - Veikonkatu 1 - Iisalmi - 2

In the 1980s, each of Savonia's municipalities voted for its own parish dishes. ''Muurinpohjalettu'', a thin

pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

crêpe A crêpe or crepe ( or , , ) is a dish made from unleavened batter or dough that is cooked on a frying pan or a griddle. Crêpes are usually one of two varieties: ''sweet crêpes'' () or ''savoury galettes'' (). They are often served ...

made of

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

, were chosen as the

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and Dish (food), dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national ...

of Iisalmi. Muurinpohjalettu

According to the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

, the world's smallest restaurant, Kuappi, is located in Iisalmi.The world's smallest restaurants
, ''

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

'' 23 January 2013. Accessed on 30 June 2022.

Music

Currently the most famous Iisalmi-based band is a humorous country-rock orchestra Halavatun Papat. A rough translation of the name is "Damn Grandfathers". 20th-century composer

Joonas Kokkonen Joonas Kokkonen (; 13 November 1921 – 2 October 1996) was a Finnish composer. He was one of the most internationally famous Finnish composers of the 20th century after Sibelius; his opera ''The Last Temptations'' has received over 500 performa ...

was born here, as were singer-songwriter Jaakko Teppo and jazz pianist and composer Jarmo Savolainen.

Sports

Iisalmi is best known for its football club, PK-37 and ice hockey club, IPK ( Iisalmen Peli-Karhut). Other known sports clubs are FBI (floorball club), Iisalmen palloveikot, Klubi-36, Iina, Iisalmen Visa and Koljonvirran ratsastajat (riding club). Iisalmi has many good locations for playing sports. There is a very nice frisbee golf place near the Paloisvuori ski center. There are also many good beaches in Iisalmi, for example Perttu's beach and the Beach of the City. Many beaches offer an opportunity for beach volleyball too. In winter time Iisalmi offers good ski trails and skating rinks; winter sports fans can also go downhill skiing and snowboarding at the Paloisvuori ski center. In addition, Iisalmi has good facilities for gym workouts, swimming, motorsports, bowling and minigolf.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Iisalmi is twinned with: *

Notodden is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Aust-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Notodden. Other population centres include the villages of Bolkesjø, G ...

, Norway * Pécel, Hungary *

Nyköping Nyköping () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Nyköping Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden, with 32,759 inhabitants as of 2017. The city is also the capital of Södermanland County. Including Arnö, the locality on the ...

, Sweden *

Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...

, Germany *

Nykøbing Falster Nykøbing Falster (; originally named Nykøbing) is a city on the island of Falster in southern Denmark. It has a population of 16,682 (1 January 2025). Including the satellite town Sundby (Lolland), Sundby on the Lolland side, with a populatio ...

, Denmark * Kirishi, Russia * Võru, Estonia

References

External links

Official website of Iisalmi
{{authority control 1627 establishments in Sweden Cities and towns in Finland Grand Duchy of Finland Populated places established in 1627