Lappee is an old parish and a former municipality of

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 ...

in the

South Karelia South Karelia ( fi, Etelä-Karjala; sv, Södra Karelen) is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Kymenlaakso, South Savo and North Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast). Historical province ''For his ...

region, originally in the Viipuri Province and after the Second World War, the

Kymi Province The Kymi Province ( fi, Kymen lääni, sv, Kymmene län) was a province of Finland from 1945 to 1997. The Kymi Province was the remainder of the territory from the Viipuri Province after the main part was left to Russia at the Moscow Armis ...

. It was consolidated with

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; sv, Villmanstrand) is a city and municipality in the region of South Karelia, about from the Russian border and from the town of Vyborg (''Viipuri''). It is situated on the shore of the Lake Saimaa in southeastern Finland, an ...

in 1967 together with Lauritsala. Its seat was in Vainikkala near the border with Russia, however the largest settlements were Laihia and Lavola near Lappeenranta and Lauritsala. The coat of arms depicts Lappee's medieval patron saint,

Saint Lawrence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

(''Pyhä Lauri'').

Geography

Lappee bordered Lappeenranta, Lauritsala, Joutseno, Nuijamaa, Ylämaa,

Luumäki Luumäki () is a municipality of Finland. Its seat is in the Taavetti village. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the South Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which i ...

Lemi Lemi is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Karelia region. The municipality has a population of (), which make it the smallest municipality in South Karelia in terms of population. It covers an area of of which is water. The ...

and

Taipalsaari Taipalsaari is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland and is part of the South Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Ne ...

. It also bordered

Vahviala Yashino ( fi, Vahviala) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Vyborgsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Karelian Isthmus. Before the Winter War and during the Continuation War, it was the center of the Vahviala municipality ...

before it was ceded to the Soviet Union.

Name

The original name of Lappee was ''Lapvesi'', which also refers to the southern part of the Saimaa. The current name was formed from the local dialectal declension of the name, e.g. genitive ''Lapveen > Lappeen'' (standard ''Lapveden''), later nominalized as ''Lappee''. The ''lap-'' element is generally thought to be etymologically connected with the name of

Lapland Lapland may refer to: Places *Lapland or Sápmi, an ethno-cultural region stretching over northern Fennoscandia (parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia) **Lapland (Finland) (''Lappi''/''Lappland''), a Finnish region *** Lapland (former pr ...

, which may suggest that Sámi people have lived in the area. The Swedish name ''Lappvesi'' as well as the surnames ''Lapveteläinen'' and ''Lappeteläinen'' are derived from the older name.

History

Lappee was first mentioned as ''Lappawesi'' in 1415, while in 1416, a vicar named Gudmund is mentioned in ''Lappevesi''. These mentions suggest that Lappee was already an independent parish in the early 15th century, however it may also have been active already in the 14th century. The center of the parish was in the village of Kauskila. The first parish to be separated from Lappee was

in 1571, which also included

Savitaipale Savitaipale (; literally translated the "clay passage") is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Karelia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . T ...

Suomenniemi Suomenniemi is a former municipality of Finland. It was consolidated with Mikkeli on 1 January 2013. It was located in the province of Southern Finland and was part of the South Karelia region. The municipality had a population of (31 December ...

and a part of

Mäntyharju Mäntyharju (, literally 'Pine Ridge') is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The coastline is almost . The population densit ...

. In 1639, a part of Lappee was given to the newly established Joutseno parish, mainly separated from Jääski.

was separated from Lappee in 1642. The town of

was established in 1652, the name of which literally means "Lappee's coast". Before the town's establishment, the name referred to a marketplace on the shore of Saimaa. The town did not have its own parish until 1913. In 1903, parts of Lappee were transferred to the new Nuijamaa parish. Lauritsala was the last municipality to be separated completely from Lappee, which happened in 1932. Lappee and Lauritsala were merged into Lappeenranta in 1967. The parishes of Lappee and Lauritsala remained separate.

References

{{SouthKarelia Lappeenranta Former municipalities of Finland