Hollola

Hollola is the oldest municipality and parish in our region. It was founded in the 13th century. It has a medieval stone church built between 1495-1510. Any church newer than that is no longer considered medieval in this country. I took a few shots of the church.

This is an interesting one. It is was not immediately obvious what the text "Jättänyt ajallisen hyvyytensä vaivaisten hyväksi" means.

ajallinen means "pertaining to time, timely", which could be translated as "earthly" or "pertaining to life in this world" as opposed to "eternal, timeless".

hyvyys means "goodness" which is obviously archaic use if it means what I think it means, which is possessions, in which case the phrase "Jättänyt ajallisen hyvyytensä" would mean "Has left her earthly possessions".

vaivaiset is an archaic word meaning "the poor" as in vaivaistalo which means "poorhouse".

What I think this means is that the text says "Has left her earthly possessions for the benefit of the poor".

The text Täällä lepää neiti A.M. Lotila means "Here rests Miss A.M. Lotila" who, at time of her death, was a 10-month-old baby.

What does all this mean? I think Miss Lotila herself had inherited an estate which she, in turn, having no one to inherit her, left to the poor.

Speaking of people buried in this cemetery, I also stumbled upon the family grave of the Asko-Avonius family. Everyone in Finland knows Asko, the furniture manufacturing and retailing company. I did not take any photos of it was the grave of far too recently buried family members. The founder Aukusti Asko-Avonius and his wife were buried there. The headstone was conspicuously large and expensive looking. The founder had plans to start the company in 1918 in Viipuri but the civil war made it impossible to do so, which is why he relocated to Lahti. Lahti had an endless supply of timber being transported via the great northern waterways all the way from Central Finland and a railway from Helsinki to St. Petersburg. Lahti was and still is a very suitably located for industrial facilities.

This bell tower was designed by Carl Ludvig Engel, the same German architect who designed most of the Empire style center of Helsinki.

---

Just a few kilometers from the church, there is a source pool called Kiikunlähde. It's a 400 meter long pool that empties into Lake Vesijärvi via a stream. A number of of sources in its bottom replenish the water at a rate of 7000 cubic meters per day.

The water is chrystal clear and has a turquoise hue owing to minerals. Salpausselkä I is a 500 km long ridge formation that filters rainwater. Under and around it, there is the largest aquifer in the country. That aquifer is the source of the water in this small lake.