Savonlinna
town in the region of Southern Savonia in Finland
Savonlinna (UK: , Finnish: [ˈsɑʋonˌlinːɑ], lit. 'Castle of Savo'; Swedish: Nyslott, lit. 'New Castle') is a town in Finland, located in the eastern interior of the country. It lies in the Finnish Lakeland, the South Savo region. The population of Savonlinna is approximately 31,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 38,000. It is the 36th most populous municipality in Finland.
Savonlinna is located in the heart of the Saimaa Lakeland, which is why it is also known as the "Capital of Saimaa". Together with Mikkeli, they are the two largest towns in the South Savo region and both are centres of the region's hospital districts. Savonlinna enclaves the municipality of Enonkoski.
Savonlinna is internationally known for its medieval St. Olaf's Castle and the annual Savonlinna Opera Festival.
History
The city was founded in 1639, based on Olavinlinna castle (St.
“Savonlinna” enters the record as town in the region of Southern Savonia in Finland. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Savonlinna, town and region can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Savonlinna” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Savonlinna, town and region provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q683512. VIAF identifies the subject as 123140040. The Library of Congress control number is n79022137. Authority coordinates are 61.868, 28.886. 3 of 9 selected statements include explicit references; 7 carry qualifiers and 2 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1639.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Savonlinna” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.