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Tampere: a city in the center of the Finnish lakes area

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Tampere is a city of over 200 thousand inhabitants, which with the metropolitan area reaches 350 thousand inhabitants. This is one of the most important cities in Finland. Tampere is located in the central area of southern Finland, in the famous Finnish lake region. The cities is located between the lakes Pyhäjärvi and Näsijärvi about 180 km north of Helsinki.

The city is of not too ancient foundation. Tampere was in fact founded in 1775 by the Swedes as the site of a market along the banks of the Tammerkoski canal. In the nineteenth century the city developed considerably becoming an important center of the textile industry.

A MODERN CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF FINLAND LAKES

Tampere has a very modern and functional aspect with a well-designed and planned urban development. The city is a cultural center of the country, endowed with two important universities, and is also home to large footwear, textile, technological, engineering and mechanical companies.

Among the things to visit there are also some interesting museums. Among these, the most important museum is the Museum Center Vapriikki which includes eleven different types of museums and exhibitions including the Tampere Museum of Natural History and the Shoe Museum.

For children there is the Moomin Museum dedicated to the children’s stories of the Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. The city has among its most visited attractions the Särkänniemi amusement park where there are a children’s zoo, an aquarium, a planetarium and a dolphinarium.

Tampere is located in the Finnish lakes region which makes it an excellent base for visiting one of the most beautiful areas in Finland. Here you can relax in a cottage on an idyllic lake and refresh yourself after a day outdoors with a typical Finnish sauna.

The city is now home to one of Finland’s most important airports, Tampere-Pirkkala. The airport, however, today has few flights after Ryanair, the company that above all contributed to its growth, has almost completely abandoned the airport.

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