Rauma

Rauma may refer to:

Places

Boats

Other

Old Rauma

Old Rauma (Finnish: Vanha Rauma, Swedish: Gamla Raumo) is the wooden city centre of the town of Rauma, Finland. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The area of Old Rauma is about 0.3 km², with approximately six hundred buildings (counting both proper houses and smaller buildings like sheds) and about 800 people living in the area. The town of Rauma expanded outside the Old Rauma proper only in the early 19th century. The oldest buildings date from the 18th century, as two fires of 1640 and 1682 destroyed the town. Most buildings are currently inhabited and owned by private individuals, although along the two main streets and around the town square they are mainly out side in business use.

Locations of special interest include the Kirsti house, which is a seaman's house from the 18th and 19th centuries, and the Marela house, which is a shipowner's house dating to the 18th century but with a 19th-century facade, both of which are currently museums. Other sights include the rare stone buildings of the Old Rauma: the Church of the Holy Cross, an old Franciscan monastery church from the 15th century with medieval paintings and the Old Town Hall from 1776. Another church in Rauma, the Church of the Holy Trinity, also from the 15th century, burned in the fire of 1640.

Rauma Line

The Rauma Line (Norwegian: Raumabanen) is a 114.2-kilometer (71.0 mi) long railway between the town of Åndalsnes (in Rauma Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county), and the village of Dombås (in Dovre Municipality in Oppland county), in Norway. Running down the Romsdalen valley, the line opened between 1921 and 1924 as a branch of the Dovre Line, which connects to the cities of Oslo and Trondheim. Originally intended as the first stage to connect Ålesund, and possibly also Molde and Kristiansund, no extensions have ever been realized. The unelectrified line is served four times daily with Norwegian State Railways' Class 93, although in the summer the service only operates from Åndalsnes to Bjorli as a tourist service. CargoLink operates a daily freight train.

The line features two horseshoe curves and has a 655-meter (2,149 ft) elevation drop. Among the line's features is the Kylling Bridge and views of the mountainous valley. Five stations remain in use: Dombås, Lesja, Lesjaverk, Bjorli and Åndalsnes. There have been launched plans to replace the line with a high-speed railway.

Rauma, Finland

Rauma (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈrɑumɑ], Swedish: Raumo) is a town and municipality of ca. 39,900 (30 June 2015 ) inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, 92 kilometres (57 mi) north of Turku, and 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Pori. Granted town privileges on 17 May 1442 (then under the rule of Sweden), Rauma is known for its paper and maritime industry, high quality lace (since the 18th century) and the old wooden architecture of its centre (Old Rauma, Vanha Rauma), which is a Unesco world heritage site.

History

In the 14th century, before being declared as a town, Rauma had a Franciscan monastery and a Catholic church. In 1550, the townsmen of Rauma were ordered to relocate to Helsinki, but this was successfully countered and Rauma could continue its growth.

Practically the whole wooden town of Rauma was devastated in the fires of 1640 and 1682. The wooden city centre, which is how large the town was until 1809, has approximately 600 wooden buildings. The neo-renaissance style of many of the houses is a result of prosperity brought on by seafaring. In 1897 Rauma had the largest fleet of sailing boats in Finland, totalling 57 vessels. Goods were mainly exported to Germany, Stockholm and the Baltic states. In the 1890s, Rauma got a teacher's college (a 'seminar'), which was later annexed to the University of Turku. A part of the department of education still exists in Rauma.