Parikkala () is a municipality of Finland located in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Southern Finland Southern Finland (, ) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History On September 1, 1997 the Uusimaa Province, the Ky ...

and is part of the

South Karelia South Karelia (or ''Southern Karelia'', ; ) is a Regions of Finland, region of Finland. It borders the regions of Kymenlaakso, Southern Savonia, South Savo and North Karelia, as well as Russia (Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast). Hist ...

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 ...

, from

Lappeenranta Lappeenranta (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Karelia. It is located in the southeastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lappeenranta is approximately , while the Lappeenranta sub-r ...

and from

Joensuu Joensuu (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Karelia. It is located in the eastern interior of the country and in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Joensuu is approximately , while the sub-region has a population ...

. The town center of Parikkala is about from the Russian border. The municipality has a population of () and 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 . Parikkala is located around lake Simpele and it is a part of a countryside rich with hills and chains of ridges. The municipality is unilingually Finnish.

History

Settlements and artifacts dated to the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

have been found in Parikkala. A permanent settlement was established around the 15th century. Many demarcations had a significant impact to Parikkala's development from the

Treaty of Nöteborg The Treaty of Nöteborg, also known as the Treaty of Orehovsk (; ; ), is a conventional name for the peace treaty signed at Shlisselburg Fortress, Oreshek (; ) on 12 August 1323. It was the first agreement between Sweden and the Novgorod Republic ...

on August 12, 1323, to peace treaties signed in 1947 with the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

; for example, in the

Treaty of Nystad The Treaty of Nystad, or the Treaty of Uusikaupunki, was the last peace treaty of the Great Northern War of 1700–1721. It was concluded between the Tsardom of Russia and the Swedish Empire on in the then Swedish town of Nystad (, in th ...

from 1721, which in practice defined roughly Finland's current border with Russia, Parikkala remained the only current Finnish municipality on the Russian side before the formation of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, one third (199.3 km²) of Parikkala's area was handed over to the Soviet Union. The Orthodox Church has been very influential in this area since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. Later, Parikkala has become known for its many

dairies A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

. Parikkala became independent in 1617. In 2004, three municipalities (Parikkala,

Saari Saari means ''island'' in Finnish and may refer to *Saari (name) *Saari, Finland, a former municipality *Saari, Estonia, a village *Saari language in Cameroon *Tarujen Saari, a Finnish folk-rock group *''Saari Bhool Hamari Thi'', a 2013 Pakistani d ...

and Uukuniemi) merged to form one municipality called Parikkala.

Education

A comprehensive school, one of the first rural schools in

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 ...

of Lake Ladoga, Ladoga, was founded in 1907. In 1910 the first three-class school building was built; later it expanded to include a gymnasium, hall and kitchen. A

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

was provided in the hall, and Finnish artists

Toivo Kuula Toivo Timoteus Kuula (7 July 1883 – 18 May 1918) was a Finnish composer and conductor of the late-Romantic and early-modern periods, who emerged in the wake of Jean Sibelius, under whom he studied privately from 1906 to 1908. The core of Ku ...

and

Oskar Merikanto Oskar Merikanto (; born Frans Oskar Ala-Kanto; 5 August 186817 February 1924) was a Finnish composer, music critic, pianist, and organist. As a composer, Merikanto was primarily a miniaturist, and includes songs and piano pieces (he wrote over ...

held their concerts there when visiting Parikkala. Upper secondary school started in the year 1940 and the first class graduated in 1943. The largest number of pupils was in the 1950s, when over 500 pupils attended school there.

Traveling and routes

Parikkala is located on the main

railway 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 ...

line from

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. A railway station is located in the middle of Parikkala village center. Traveling time is about three and half hours from Helsinki, and all passenger trains stop at Parikkala. The city of

Imatra Imatra is a city in Finland, located in the southeastern interior of the country. Imatra is located in the region of South Karelia, on Saima, Lake Saimaa and the River Vuoksi. The population of Imatra is approximately , while the Imatra sub-regi ...

is about 60 km south of Parikkala.

Attractions

One of Parikkala's most famous attractions is the park of more than 500 sculptures worked by , located along the Highway 6. This sculpture park has been called one of the "most terrifying places on Earth".

Notable people

* Hjalmar Dahl (1891–1960), journalist, translator and writer * Pietari Hannikainen (1813–1899), writer, journalist and surveyor * Sirpa Pietikäinen (born 1959), politician * Aimo Pulkkinen (1928–2018), footballer *

Arto Räty Arto Tuomas Räty (born 25 October 1955 in Parikkala, Finland) is a Finland, Finnish Retirement, retired Officer (armed forces), military officer with the rank of lieutenant general. He was promoted a brigadier general in 2004 and lieutenant genera ...

(born 1955), lieutenant general * Oskari Reinikainen (1885–1969), physician and politician * Hannu Siitonen (born 1949), javelin thrower * Lisa Sounio (born 1970), CEO and chairperson of Dopplr

References

External links

Municipality of ParikkalaVisit ParikkalagoSaimaa.com
– travel information
Siikalahti

Wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

Parikkalan Urheilijat – Athletes ClubBusiness Owners of Parikkala
{{Authority control Populated places established in 1635 1635 establishments in Sweden