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Founded: 1810-1880Category: Historic city squares, old towns and villages in Finland
Historical period: Russian Grand Duchy (Finland)
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Neristan (downtown) is the name of the old town of Kokkola. Neristan is one of the most extensive wooden towns in Finland. The town plan of 12 blocks is derived from the 1660's. Most of the buildings were built between 1810 and 1880, although the oldest buildings are up to the 1600s.
Until the beginning of 1900s city of Kokkola was divided to Oppistan (upper town) and Neristan (downtown). Oppistan, the current city center, was the business district of rich merchants and the old shipping families. Neristan was inhabited by various craftsmen and sailors. Today most fine stone houses of Oppistan are demolished, but Neristan has remained fairly cohesive with its narrow streets and small gardens.
National Board of Antiquities has defined the Neristan area as a national built heritage.
The Externsteine (Extern stones) is a distinctive sandstone rock formation located in the Teutoburg Forest, near the town of Horn-Bad Meinberg. The formation is a tor consisting of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills. Archaeological excavations have yielded some Upper Paleolithic stone tools dating to about 10,700 BC from 9,600 BC.
In a popular tradition going back to an idea proposed to Hermann Hamelmann in 1564, the Externsteine are identified as a sacred site of the pagan Saxons, and the location of the Irminsul (sacral pillar-like object in German paganism) idol reportedly destroyed by Charlemagne; there is however no archaeological evidence that would confirm the site's use during the relevant period.
The stones were used as the site of a hermitage in the Middle Ages, and by at least the high medieval period were the site of a Christian chapel. The Externsteine relief is a medieval depiction of the Descent from the Cross. It remains controversial whether the site was already used for Christian worship in the 8th to early 10th centuries.
The Externsteine gained prominence when Völkisch and nationalistic scholars took an interest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This interest peaked under the Nazi regime, when the Externsteine became a focus of nazi propaganda. Today, they remain a popular tourist destination and also continue to attract Neo-Pagans and Neo-Nazis.