Loimaa
Template:Infobox Finnish Municipality Loimaa (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈloimɑː]; Swedish (historically):"Loimijoki") is a town and municipality of Finland.
It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southwest Finland region. The municipality has a population of Template:Infobox Finnish Municipality/population count (Error: Invalid time.)[1] and covers an area of [convert: invalid number] of which [convert: invalid number] is water.[2] The population density is [convert: invalid number].
Loimaa's neighboring municipalities are Huittinen, Humppila, Koski Tl, Marttila, Oripää, Punkalaidun, Pöytyä, Somero, Säkylä and Ypäjä.
History
First mentions of Loimaa come from the year 1439 but a parish was founded in the area already a decade earlier. The town was founded in its current form in 1876 as the railway between Turku and Toijala was completed.[3]
A legend of Prättäkitti is heavily associated with Loimaa.
The town of Loimaa merged with Loimaan kunta (literally "Municipality of Loimaa") on January 1, 2005 and with the municipalities of Alastaro and Mellilä on January 1, 2009.
The name Loimaa comes from the river Loimijoki which flows through the town.
Culture
A local speciality is piapo, a version of kama.[4]
Rompepäivät (lit. "junk days") is an annual event that takes place in August. It brings together trunk show enthusiasts selling both old and new merchandise as well as food and entertainment. The trunk show is located at the historic market square of Loimaa, now known as Peltoinen, and draws in 8,000–10,000 visitors.[5]
The local newspaper is called Loimaan Lehti. It first started publishing in 1915 and today comes out three times a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.[6]
Subdivisions and villages
Alastaron-Mäenpää, Eura, Haara, Haaroinen, Haitula, Hartoinen, Hattula, Hirvikoski, Hurskala, Ilmarinen, Inkilä, Joenperä, Juva, Karhula, Karsattila, Kauhanoja, Kemppilä, Kesärlä, Klockarla, Koenperä, Kojonkulma, Krekilä, Kuninkainen, Kurittula, Kuttila, Köyliö, Lappijoki, Levälä, Lähde, Metsämaa, Mäenpää, Niemi, Niinijoki, Onkijoki, Pahikainen, Pappinen, Peltoinen, Piltola, Puujalkala, Raikkola, Seppälä, Sieppala, Torkkala, Vesikoski, and Vilvainen.
Sights
- Alpo Jaakola Statue Park
- Heikintalo bison farm
- The church of Loimaa Proper
- Loimaa regional museum
- Mill of Krekilä
- Sarka, The Finnish Museum of Agriculture
- Mill of Vesikoski
- Loimaa railway station
Notable people
- Alpo Jaakola
- Reino Kuuskoski
- Nicolaus Rungius
- Max Staples
- Thomas Douglas-Powell
- Olavi Ala-Nissilä
- Mauno Kurppa
- Arto Savonen
- Mato Valtonen
Sports
The city is home to the Bisons Loimaa basketball club, 2012 and 2013 Champion of the Korisliiga. The club regularly qualifies for international competitions. It plays its home games at the Loimaa Sports Center and on some occasions moves to the Energia Areena. The city is also home to the Hurrikaani Loimaa volleyball club, regularly qualifies for international competitions such as CLvolleyM and SM-league.
International relations
Twin towns — sister cities
Loimaa is twinned with:
- Åmål, Sweden
- Uddevalla, Sweden
- Frogn, Norway
- Skien, Norway
- Türi, Estonia
- Jõhvi, Estonia
- Staraya Russa, Russia
- Mosfellsbær, Iceland
- Thisted Municipality, Denmark
- Grenå, Denmark
References
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
total_area
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Loimaa Paas poiketen! HD". YouTube (in Finnish). 27 September 2016. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Ruoka". Loimaa-Seura (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Rompeloimaa". Rompepäivät (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
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: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Yhteystiedot". Loimaan Lehti (in Finnish). 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
External links
Media related to Loimaa at Wikimedia Commons
- Town of Loimaa – Official website