Rauma

Granted town privileges on 17 April 1442, and known for three things: lace made here since the eighteenth century, a maritime industry, and the old wooden town centre that UNESCO listed. Fires in 1640 and 1682 destroyed practically the whole wooden town, and what stands now (roughly 600 wooden buildings, many in a Neo-Renaissance style) was paid for by seafaring. In 1897 Rauma had the largest sailing fleet in Finland, fifty-seven vessels trading to Germany, Stockholm and the Baltic. A second World Heritage Site, the Bronze Age cemetery of Sammallahdenmäki, lies nearby.