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By Administrator
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Monday, 20 November 2006 |
1. Can you see the Northern Lights from Oulu? 2. If Oulu is a seventeenth century city, why are there so few old buildings?
A combination of reasons. The older buildings were made of wood and tended to rot and burn down easily. Many were destroyed in the city’s fire in the nineteenth century, during World War II, due to attempts to ‘modernise’ the city in 1960s and due to arson in the 1990s. There are still a few old buildings by the market square. http://www.65degreesnorth.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=109&Itemid=85and http://www.65degreesnorth.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=85
3. What is that statue of an overweight policeman in the market square all about?
The former curator of Oulu’s art museum was leaving the market hall in the early 1980s and thought to herself, ‘Why can’t there be a statue in the market square that symbolises Oulu?’ She went to Kajaani (east of Oulu) and found a smaller version of the ‘Toripoliisi’ statue in a gallery there. It had been made by the gallery’s curator Kaarlo Mikkonen (1920-2001) as a tribute to his father-in-law. It was made into bronze and erected in Oulu in 1987 and was Mikkonen’s only exhibited work. Contrary to popular belief, it is not based on a particular person but on the stereo-type that market policemen have big stomachs and are fairly relaxed. http://www.intermin.fi/poliisi/oulu/home.nsf/pages/
F96CF347E14F8B9DC2256BA000404CE4?opendocument (in Finnish)4. How cold does it get in Oulu?
In the winter, it has been known to get down to minus 40 and be dark most of the time. But on the plus side, in the summer, it can be very warm and light all night. You can always find out the temperature from the 65 Degrees North Website. 5. Is it safe to walk around Oulu at night?
There are good areas and bad areas but, certainly, there is relatively little street crime in Oulu. Obviously, it is worth being cautious as there are occasional incidents especially relating to alcohol. |
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