Rovaniemi

Rovaniemi is the cultural, economic and administrative center of Finland's Lapland. When speaking of Lapland one usually expects sleights, tents and wooden houses, but Rovaniemi is nothing of this kind. The city hat its initial rice in early 19th century with the gold rush passing by. This made Rovaniemi and the major center of Lapland. By WWII it was exactly the traditional wooden hut Lapland village, just bigger, but with the retreat of German forces in 1944 the city was completely destroyed and rebuild-ed by architect Alvar Aalto in its contemporary looks with unusual street layout, which mimics the shape of reindeer antlers looked by air. The time of rebuilding Rovaniemi was and the time of major population growth as from 8.000 the population of the city grew up to 36.000 people. This was helped and by the building of the University of Rovaniemi which transformed the city in cultural and youth center of North Finland. When visiting the friendly city of Rovaniemi, the first thing that you should take with you are worm clothes, as the city is just on the border of the wastelands of the Arctic Circle. There are several places worth visiting in Rovaniemi, that you can visit in a day, and the rest of your time you can dedicate to visiting close-by traditional Lapland villages by snow mobiles or sleights or by dedicating to the cultural or night live of this friendly city. Some of the landmarks of Rovaniemi are: the Arktikum, the Marttiini Old Knife Factory and the Rovaniemi Seurakunta. A good day-trip is a visit to Ranua (with its zoo) and to the Santa Claus village and park which gives you the opportunity to meet Santa Claus in person and is especially recommended to those who still have any doubts that he truly exists. And don't forget - there are tons more of attractions, activities and interesting places to see in the city of Rovaniemi, visit them and write here at HolidayStreets.com about their beauty and mystery!