Liperi

Liperi of the days gone by is best known as Greater-Liperi. In addition to modern day Liperi, it used to contain cities of Joensuu and Outokumpu, as well as municipalities of Kaavi, Kontiolahti and Polvijärvi, as well as the municipality of Säyneinen which no longer exists. Also parts of the municipalities of Juuka and Rääkkylä were part of Greater-Liperi. Autonomous municipality did not take place in Liperi until 1875. And that was the year of birth for the municipality of Liperi. At that time the congregation of Greater-Liperi ceased to exist.

There are many theories trying to explain the name of Liperi, but no definitive explanation exists. The most reliable explanation for the possible origin for the name is given in the book History of Greater-Liperi by Marja-Liisa Tuomi. There were plenty of small-leaved lime trees in Liperi. For example another name for Liperinsalo is Niinikkosaari (“niini” being an alternative name for a lime tree in Finnish, while “saari” stands for an island), and Niinikkolampi also exists (where the word “lampi” stands for a pond).

The Russian authorities appear to have noticed the plentiful amounts of small-leaved lime trees. It is thought that the village names of Libelitsa and Libelitskaja in the tax records for 1544, are derived from the word “lehmus” (which means lime tree in Finnish). Lehmus in Russian language is “lipa” and forest is “les”

The coat of arms for the municipality of Liperi was commissioned from artist Ahti Hammar. It was chosen as the official design in 1854. It portrays the main congregation and the four Lutheran congregations that were detached from it, which are: Outokumpu, Kontiolahti, Kaavi and Polvijärvi.

Liperi is an active summer municipality, and it hosts the annual Liperi-Week event. The week culminates in the stop-over of the Karelia Rowing Tour at Kirkkoranta in Liperi.