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UUSIKAUPUNKI

The Birth of Uusikaupunki

The town of Uusikaupunki came into being as a result of sea traffic in the part of the Bothnian Sea which is called Velhovesi. Männäinen was a busy market place that had been a hub for international commerce since the Finnish Middle Ages. The old sea route from Kalanti, in the area known as Vakka-Suomi, to the southern Baltic Sea played a key role in strengthening commerce in the area. Peasant ships carried hundreds of ship loads of locally made wooden pots and vessels to the towns on the Baltic every year, and returned with salt they sold along with their own wooden vessels at the market place. King Gustav II Adolf eventually founded the town of Uusikaupunki in 1617 in order to legalise the peasants’ widespread trading in the area.

”The young King Gustav II Adolf travelled to Turku in 1616 and stayed there the latter part of winter. The people of Turku had made numerous complaints about the trading of the people of Vakka-Suomi, which they feared would destroy the town of Turku. It was presumably this concern that prompted him to familiarise himself with the region in question, travelling to Männäinen in May to see the weekly market there for himself. The people of Kalanti had heard that the king was coming; they were used to dealing with royalty from their visits to far-off places and were now prepared for the high profile visit. A folk ballad tells the story: “It was market time in May, the aspen wood was formed into bowls. Also brought to see the king was the finest maiden of Kalanti…” With baited breath the people of Kalanti waited to see what the king would decide regarding their market. The result turned out to be wonderful: the king issued a patent for a new town to be founded in Männäinen.”