Heinola

Heinola lies amid lakes and ridges in southern Finland, where the waters of the Päijänne region pass through the Jyränkö channel. The district was long used by hunters and fishers before permanent villages appeared in the Middle Ages. A parish church was built in 1755. In 1776 King Gustav III made Heinola the residence of a provincial governor, drawing officials, craftsmen and traders to a new administrative centre.