Hello welcome back to a new scene.
Nice to have you here, do you want to come with me?
We are greeted by a beautiful sun on a pleasant Friday, 21°c (69.8°f) to be exact.
Let’s take a walk through the heart of Tampere, along the tammerkoski canal.
While we do this, i would like to talk about Tampere in a little more detail.

The city of Tampere has a population of ~244,000.
Ranked 3rd largest in Finland behind Helsinki and Espoo.
It is the largest Finnish-speaking municipality with only ~1000 Swedish speakers.
Tampere has become the second most popular city in Finland in terms of hotel stays, after Helsinki.

Let us go back in time to the 7th century, long ago right?
The founding of the earliest known settlement around Tammerkoski.
Largely inhabited by the Tavastian tribes, with a stronghold at Hämeenlinna (Häme Castle).
For many centuries the population remained low.
In 1638, Governor-General Per Brahe the Younger ordered that two markets should be held in Tammerkoski each year.
Early industry in the region around the 17th century were mainly watermills and sawmills.
Tampere received full city rights from King Gustav III of Sweden on October 1, 1779.
At the time, it was quite a small town, on land that belonged to Tammerkoski Manor.

When Finland became part of the Russian Empire in 1809, Tampere had less than a thousand inhabitants.
Great growth took place in the 19th century, through the Finlayson textile factory, founded in 1820 by a Scottish industrialist James Finlayson.
By the 1850s the factory employed about 2000 people, while the town had a population of 4,000.
Other industrial establishments that followed were the Tampella blast furnace, Machine & Flax factory, Paper factory and a broadcloth factory.
Perhaps the most famous company starting in the Tammerkoski area, the Nokia Corporation (1865).
Although, back then it was a pulp mill on the shores of the rapids.
A second mill was opened in the neighboring town of Nokia, with better hydropower resources.
Population grew to 36,000 in the year 1900.
As the city continued to grow exponentially, modernization followed.
Impressive apartment buildings were built among modest wooden houses.
The construction of sewerage, water supply and electrical lighting.
Tampere was the first Nordic city to introduce electric lighting for general use in 1882.
On 22 June, 1876 the rail link between Hämeenlinna – Helsinki was extended to Tampere.

Since the 2010s the city center has been developed in a more modern direction.
The city aims to reach the end of development in the 2030s.
One of the latest additions is the Tampere Tramway line which came into operation in August 2021.
Future project such as an artificial island on the shores of the lake would create new residential areas for thousands inhabitants.
The biggest sport in Tampere is, of course, ice hockey.
The first Finnish ice hockey game was played here, Tampere is nicknamed the hometown of Finnish ice hockey.
It is the home of not 1 but 3 ice hockey teams: Tappara, Ilves and KOOVEE.
The Finnish Ice Hockey Museum and the first ice hockey arena are both located in Tampere.

I will end my ramble by saying that the cities Tampere and Turku have a longstanding feud against each other.
Competing for the title of being the “second grand city of Finland” after Helsinki.
Well, i guess that’s an invitation to visit Turku as well.

During Christmas period, the city hosts a wonderful Christmas market.
I will link it in the top right corner of your screen and the description below.
CHRISTMAS MARKET

Thank you for joining
Have a great day and hopefully see you next time.
Together we learn, explore and walk through the scenes.