Loviisan alakaupunki (Nedre stan)

English translation (from the Finnish)

The text above is the record as published by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), in Finnish. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto); it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Loviisa Alakaupunki is one of the most cohesive 18th-century urban areas in our country, whose town plan, urban structure and building stock have been well preserved. The long, straight street views are given their character by small-scale buildings erected at the end of the 18th century and in the early 19th century.

Alakaupunki consists of a wooden district that arose freely in the 18th century on the south side of the fortress after the founding of Loviisa. It is still characterised by a coherent, dense street space and historic building stock.
In the northern part of Alakaupunki, the dense, narrow and tall street space between Sepänkuja and Degerbynkatu forms a coherent urban structure. Along the streets are a few two-storey residential buildings dating from the 18th century, clad in vertical boarding typical of the period.

The north-south streets Kuningattarenkatu and Mariankatu begin at Karlskronanbulevardi and converge in a wedge shape at Suolatori in the south. Alakaupunki continues, with its building stock well preserved, south from Suolatori along Puutarhakatu as far as Perämiehenkuja. The long, straight street views are given their character by small-scale buildings erected at the end of the 18th century and in the early 19th century. The integrity of the street view is emphasised by relatively small plots. The plots south of Suolatori, which were originally inhabited by sailors and craftsmen, are remarkably narrow and small. The residential houses on them are often built along the long side of the plot, with the gable facing the street. The area also retains a few residential buildings with a drive-through gate passage.

Loviisa Alakaupunki's coherent, small-scale structure, with its narrow street spaces, extends south along Puutarhakatu and Köydenpunojan katu, across Antinkyläntie, as far as the bathing beach known as Plagen. The southern edge of Plagen is formed by the Tamminiemi area, where there is an old formal garden and two largely original Empire-style residential buildings from the 19th century.

Alakaupunki has a close connection to Loviisanlahti. As a result of land uplift and land reclamation, the former shoreline has become a street (Rantatie), and a continuous walking route network has formed along the shore. From Suolatori there is a link to Laivasilta on the shore, where there are former salt storehouses. The area, which today serves mainly tourism, also functions as a small-boat harbour.

On the western side of Alakaupunki, the town's scenic backdrop is formed by the wooded Myllyharju, which includes, among others, two cemeteries and the viewpoint Kukkukivi, for which architect K. Hjelt designed a Jugend-influenced cast-iron observation tower in 1906. Landmarks of Myllyharju have included a windmill and a water tower from 1961 designed by Arkkitehtitoimisto Kaija ja Heikki Sirén.

History

The town of Degerby was founded in 1745, after the fortress town of Hamina had been ceded to Russia under the Peace of Turku in 1743. The final town plan of the town was drawn up by Augustin Ehrensvärd in 1747. The aim was a stone-built town surrounded by bastions, to which a suburb outside the fortification zone was to be attached. Only part of the bastions and a few stone buildings were realised. The actual settlement and wooden town, now Loviisa Alakaupunki, arose south of the fortress.

Alakaupunki escaped the great town fire of 1855. A new town plan was drawn up for Alakaupunki in 1963, under which most of the historic building stock would have been replaced by 2-5-storey buildings, and the small-scale structure of the district would have been completely changed. In the amendments to the town plan of 1977 and 1980, the direction of development was changed, and the protection of the district together with cautious infill construction was adopted as an objective.