Taivassalo (; sv, Tövsala) is a

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 ...

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 Bot ...

, about from the city of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

. It is located in the

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The reg ...

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 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 RosenberPopu ...

is . The municipality is unilingually Finnish. Its neighboring municipalities are Kustavi,

Masku Masku () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality, which is located about just north of Turku, has a population of () and covers an area of ...

Mynämäki Mynämäki (; sv, Virmo) is a municipality of Finland located in the Southwest Finland region. Neighbouring municipalities are Aura, Eura, Laitila, Masku, Nousiainen, Pöytyä, Rusko, Taivassalo, Turku and Vehmaa. The municipality ha ...

Naantali Naantali (; sv, Nådendal) is a town in southwestern Finland, and, as a resort town during the summer, an important tourist centre of the country. The municipality has a population of (), and is located in the region of Southwest Finland, west ...

Uusikaupunki Uusikaupunki (; sv, Nystad, ) is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region, northwest of Turku and south of Pori. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is inland wate ...

and

Vehmaa Vehmaa (; sv, Vemo) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The populati ...

. The medieval

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships ...

appearing in the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of Taivassalo refers to the maritime connections the coastguard already had during the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around th ...

, as well as to the medieval naval weaponry, the surviving information of which comes from Taivassalo itself. The coat of arms was designed by Olof Eriksson, and the Taivassalo municipal council approved it at its meeting on October 21, 1953. The

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

approved the coat of arms for use on February 11, 1954.

Name

''Taivassalo'' literally means "sky island", however J. A. Lopmeri and

Elias Lönnrot Elias Lönnrot (; 9 April 1802 – 19 March 1884) was a Finnish physician, philologist and collector of traditional Finnish oral poetry. He is best known for creating the Finnish national epic, ''Kalevala'', (1835, enlarged 1849), from short ...

theorized that the initial word was originally ''taival/taipale'', as the area was originally an island, by the time of the naming it may have been connected to the mainland by a thin isthmus (''taipale'') as a result of

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound ...

. The Swedish name ''Tövsala'' is an adaptation of the Finnish name.

History

Taivassalo was first mentioned in 1350 as ''Thowesalu'', when it was already a separate parish. It also included Velkua, Kustavi (originally ''Kivimaa'') and Iniö until the 19th century.

Notable people

Emma Irene Åström Emma Irene Åström (27 April 1847 – 3 July 1934) was a Finnish teacher and Finland's first female university graduate. Early life Åström was born in 1847 in Taivassalo, in the Turku and Pori Province of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Her paren ...

(1847–1934) *

Reima Salonen Reima Untamo Salonen (born November 19, 1955 in Taivassalo, Southwest Finland) is a retired race walker from Finland, known for winning the gold medal in the men's 50 km Walk event at the 1982 European Championships in Athens, Greece. A forme ...

(born 1955)

References

External links

Municipality of Taivassalo
– Official website Municipalities of Southwest Finland Populated coastal places in Finland Populated places established in the 12th century {{WesternFinland-geo-stub