Rovaniemi, Finland

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There was a settlement here in the 16th century, when Swedish and Russian tax-collectors first began to appear in these northern regions. With the increase in the demand for timber following the development of industry Rovaniemi grew considerably in importance, lying as it did at the junction of two of the principal rivers down which logs could be floated from the interior of Lapland to the Baltic. The town was detached from the surrounding rural district in 1929, and in 1938 became the chief place in the Finnish province of Lapland. It received its municipal charter in 1960.

Until quite recent times Rovaniemi, like other places in the northern territories, consisted almost entirely of wooden houses. During the winter of 1944-45 over four-fifths of the town was burned down during the fighting between Finnish and German forces. After the war Alvar Aalto was given the task of rebuilding the town, and based the layout of the main streets on the pattern of a reindeer's antlers. The buildings erected since the war are almost all of stone, and some of the public buildings have provided a model for the whole of Lapland with their functional design and adaptation to the landscape.

Tourism

Rovaniemi now attracts some 400,000 visitors a year, and accordingly the service trades are of major importance to the town's economy.

Rovaniemi has anumber of notable landmarks including the Jätkänkynttilä bridge with its eternal flame, the Arktikum House and the Lappia House housing a library, concert hall and theatre.