Enonkoski () is a

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 ...

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 Bo ...

. It is encircled by the city of Savonlinna in the Southern Savonia

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 and t ...

. It is the smallest municipality in Southern Savonia in terms of population.

History

Enonkoski was founded in 1882. Before that it was part of Kerimäki and Heinävesi. The major reason for the foundation of independent parish of Enonkoski happened in 1858. Enonkoski did not have its own church, and on Sundays people had to row to the church to Kerimäki, a parish Enonkoski was part of that time. In 1858 there was a church boat accident in the lake Ylä-Enonvesi, which led to the death of eight people. After that, a Russian businessman and a leader of an Enonkoski glass factory and a sawmill decided to build a church in Enonkoski. He is alleged to have said: "the people in Enonkoski do not anymore have to drown on their trips to the church". The wooden church was built in the next year but it was destroyed in a fire caused by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

in 1884. A new church made of wood, which is still in use, was built in 1886.

Languages

The municipality is unilingually Finnish. There also is a Russian speaking minority.

Religion

The majority of the people living in Enonkoski are Evangelical Lutheran. There is a church in the centre of Enonkoski, built in 1886. The only Evangelical Lutheran monastery in Finland, the Monastic Protestant Community in Enonkoski, is located in Enonkoski.

Transport

Enonkoski has one main road which leads to Savonlinna, away. It also has other roads which lead to the small dock neighborhood called Hyypiänniemi and to another area known as Hanhivirta.

Amenities

Enonkoski is a very small town, with two small supermarkets, a gas station, a gift shop, several bakeries and cafés and a bar. It also has a retirement home called Iltasatu, which translates to bedtime story. Towards the edge of the town, near a fire station, there is a running track with a well-kept field (usually used for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

) in the middle. In addition, there is a school which has an ice skating rink, used in the winter, and an indoor sports arena. Adjacent to the school is a library built in 1992. Enonkoski houses a rehab facility.

Industry

The largest business in the town is a

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

research plant where they raise fish in a controlled environment and then release them into the

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

s which are abundant in the area.

Sport

Enonkoski has a juniors and senior

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team Enonkosken Pyrintö playing in the second highest tier of men's volleyball in Finland. Football club Karvilan Kivekkäät has a couple of youth teams and a women's team that won the regional championship in 2009. There is also a cross country track used for cross-country skiing in winter and jogging in summer. Participation in the yearly skiing competitions is very high.

Orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a ...

is also quite popular sport. The sports club for athletics, skiing and orienteering is called Enonkosken Urheilijat.

Notable people

* Antti Loikkanen (1955) is a Finnish former middle-distance and endurance runner (European indoor champion 1978)

Villages

Hanhijärvi, Ihamaniemi, Joutsenmäki, Karvila, Laasala, Makkola, Muhola, Paakkunala, Parkumäki, Simanala, Suurimäki and Vuorikoski are villages in Enonkoski.

Border changes

In 2009 the neighbouring municipalities of Enonkoski, Savonranta and the city of Savonlinna, unified as a one municipality. According to the law of Finland, the unifying municipalities must have a land connection between them, which Savoninna and Savonranta did not have. Because of that a land strip of was taken off from the area of Enonkoski municipality to connect the parts together. After Kerimäki and Punkaharju were consolidated with the town of Savonlinna on 1 January 2013, Enonkoski became completely surrounded by the emerging city.

References

External links

Municipality of Enonkoski
– Official website {{Authority control Populated places established in 1882