Teljä (also Telja or Tälje) was a late

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and early

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 ...

settlement in

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, ...

at the historical province of Satakunta. According to tradition it was located by the river

Kokemäenjoki The Kokemäenjoki (" Kokemäki River", ) is a river in southwestern Finland. Geography The river originates at Lake Liekovesi in the Pirkanmaa region, and flows to the Gulf of Bothnia at Pori in the Satakunta region. Primary tributaries of the ...

in the present municipality of

Kokemäki Kokemäki (; ) is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedish speakin ...

. It is uncertain whether Teljä was a town-like settlement or more of a market place for

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

traders.

History

Teljä is considered to be the predecessor of Medieval

Ulvila Ulvila (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is one of the six medieval cities of Finland, as well as the third oldest city in the country. Ulvila was granted charter as a ...

town and the 1558 founded city of

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

. The settlement and its harbor moved downstream as the river went shallow due to

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 an ...

. Some tradition claims Teljä was preceded by an ancient settlement named Hahlo which was located few kilometers upstream.Mikä oli Telja?
Municipality of Kokemäki. (in Finnish). Retrieved 2 November 2013. There is no archaeological evidence of Teljä; in 1960 an

excavation Excavation may refer to: * Archaeological excavation * Excavation (medicine) * ''Excavation'' (The Haxan Cloak album), 2013 * ''Excavation'' (Ben Monder album), 2000 * ''Excavation'' (novel), a 2000 novel by James Rollins * '' Excavation: A Mem ...

led by professor Unto Salo found no traces of an Iron Age town but the archaeologists discovered remains of Medieval village that was later destroyed by fire. Some

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

and Medieval objects were also found. According to Salo and an earlier historian

Jalmari Jaakkola Kaarle Jalmari Jaakkola (1 January 1885 – 12 February 1964) was a Finnish historian and a professor of Finnish history at the University of Helsinki between 1932 and 1954. Jaakkola is known as a historian who primarily researched medieval histor ...

, Teljä was established in the 11th century by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

merchants. River Kokemäenjoki was the waterway connecting sea to the inland lakes of Upper Satakunta, which is a part of modern-day

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

region. The most important export since Iron Age was

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

.Tapio Salminen: Joki ja sen väki – Kokemäen ja Harjavallan historia jääkaudesta 1860-luvulle (The history of Kokemäki and Harjavalta municipalities). . Retrieved 2 November 2013.

Location

Teljä's assumed location is at the site of 1857 built St. Henry's Chapel. It is a brick chapel which covers a small wooden

granary A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...

used by

Bishop Henry Henry (; ; ; died 20 January 1156). was a medieval English clergyman. He came to Sweden with Cardinal Nicholas Breakspeare in 1153 and was most likely designated to be the new Archbishop of Uppsala, but the independent church province of Swed ...

in 1150s as a

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

room. It is possible that St. Henry was preaching at Teljä on the

First Swedish Crusade The First Swedish Crusade was a possibly mythical military expedition in the 1150s to Southwestern Finland by Swedish King Eric IX and English Bishop Henry of Uppsala. The earliest written sources of the crusade are from the late 13th centur ...

, although the expedition itself might be just a myth. The granary was later converted to a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

that was a destination for

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

s until the

Reformation era The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

.St. Henry's Chapel
Spotting History. Retrieved 2 November 2013.

Name

In documents the name Teljä was first mentioned in 1650 Swedish geography description ''Epitome descriptionis Svecia, Gothiae, Fenningiae et subjectarum provinciarum'' by professor

Mikael Wexionius Mikael is a masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name Michael (מִיכָאֵל), which means "Who is like God". It is used predominantly throughout Scandinavia and Finland. Mikaela is the feminine form of the name. In France, the name is w ...

. The name is assumed to be same origin as the "Tälje"-named places in Sweden. Some 18th-century descriptions call Teljä as "Öster-Tälje" (East Tälje) to distinguish it from Swedish

Norrtälje Norrtälje is a locality and the seat of Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 17,275 inhabitants in 2010. It is one of the largest towns in Roslagen. History Norrtälje’s early history dates back to the Iron Age. Around 2 ...

(North Tälje) and

Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. It is also a part of Stockholm urban area, Greater Stockholm Metropolitan Area. As of 2020, it has 73,872 inhabitants. Södert� ...

(South Tälje).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Telja Medieval Finland Former populated places in Finland Lost cities and towns Satakunta