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Rovaniemi

Mayor

Esko Lotvonen

Biography

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Periodic clearance of new land for agriculture and the practice of slash-and-burn cultivation began around 750–530 BC. Artifacts found in the area suggest that an increasing number of travellers from Karelia in the east, Häme in the south and the Arctic Ocean coast in the north must have come there from 500 AD onwards. The Sami are considered to be Lapland`s most indigenous existing population.

Rovaniemi is first mentioned by name in official documents in 1453, existing effectively as a set of small villages whose inhabitants earned their living mainly in agriculture and animal husbandry with fishing and hunting the most important offshoots.

The exploitation of Lapland's natural resources in the 1800s boosted Rovaniemi's growth. Extensive logging sites and gold fever attracted thousands of people to Lapland. As the mining of natural resources was increased, Rovaniemi became the business centre of the province of Lapland.

During the Second World War, Finland signed the Moscow Armistice and found itself involved in the Lapland War with its former German ally. Retreating German forces utilised scorched earth tactics, and though initially German General Lothar Rendulic ordered only the public buildings in Rovaniemi to be destroyed, on 13 October 1944 the German army received orders to destroy all the buildings in Rovaniemi, only excluding hospitals and houses where inhabitants were present. While the German rear guard was going about the destruction, an ammunition train in Rovaniemi station exploded and set fire to the wooden houses of the town. The German troops suffered many casualties, mainly from glass splinters. A Finnish commando unit claimed to have blown up the ammunition train and may well have been the primary cause of the town's ruin. The cause was then unknown and generally assumed to be the deliberate intent of Rendulic. During these hostilities 90% of all the buildings in Rovaniemi were destroyed. There is a German cemetery 19 km from Rovaniemi where soldiers killed fighting in Lapland during the war are buried.

Rovaniemi / Culture and Tourism

Santa Claus Village – open, with precautions in place

The famous amusement park near Rovaniemi, Finland is experiencing a tourist slump due to the pandemic

Dec 21, 2020 14:55

TheMayor.EU

Rovaniemi / Education and Sport

Rovaniemi won the European City of Sport 2020 award

The "official" home town of Santa Claus has 600 sports facilities

Nov 08, 2019 08:33

Monika Dimitrova

Rovaniemi / Economy and Finance

Rovaniemi, Kuopio and Oulu ranked most attractive for estate investments in Finland

All of them are university cities with comparatively low real estate prices

Jul 18, 2019 14:18

Monika Dimitrova

Rovaniemi / Education and Sport

Rovaniemi offers numerous physical activities for free this summer

For every age group – children, adults and elderly people

Jul 16, 2019 13:55

Monika Dimitrova

Rovaniemi / Culture and Tourism

Flag Day Parade in Rovaniemi

Everyone is welcome to attend the inspection of the troops at Rovaniemi Keskuskenttä

May 31, 2019 09:48

Monika Dimitrova

Espoo / Helsinki / Rovaniemi / Tampere / Culture and Tourism

Happy Independence Day, Finland!

The country celebrates 101 years of independence

Dec 06, 2018 11:09

Olya Georgieva

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The second round of DiscoverEU just opened

Apply before 11 December for your chance to embark on the adventure of a lifetime!

Nov 29, 2018 14:45

Olya Georgieva

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