Kupittaa is a district

District

Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...

 in Turku

Turku

Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. It is located on the eastern side of the city's centre, around the Kupittaa Park, the first landscaped park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

 in a Finnish city. The district serves as a centre for recreation and business. Turku has recently planned a residential area for 750 residents on the premises of a former HKScan

HKScan

HKScan Oyj is a Finnish manufacturer of meat foods and products, but nowadays its product range also includes ready meals and pet foods. It is based in Turku...

 sausage factory.

The area hosts, among other things, numerous sport

Sport

A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...

s facilities, such as the Veritas Stadion

Veritas Stadion

Veritas Stadion is a football stadium in Turku, Finland. It is situated in the district of Kupittaa, in an area dedicated to sporting venues...

, a Finnish baseball stadium, a velodrome

Velodrome

A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...

, a bowling alley, a skateboarding area and a BMX

BMX

Bicycle motocross or BMX refers to the sport in which the main goal is extreme racing on bicycles in motocross style on tracks with inline start and expressive obstacles, and it is also the term that refers to the bicycle itself that is designed for dirt and motocross cycling.- History :BMX started...

 track, and the Kupittaa open-air swimming pools. The ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 arena in the district was demolished in 2005. A new one was inaugurated in November 2006.

Most of the Turku Science Park

Turku Science Park

Turku Science Park is a community of businesses and educational establishments in the city of Turku, Finland. It focuses on development of the biotechnology and IT industries in southwestern Finland through cooperation of the different factors in the field. Its membership includes approximately 300...

 business centre is located in Kupittaa. The centre is currently expanding around Kupittaa railway station

Kupittaa railway station

Kupittaa railway station is located in the Kupittaa district of Turku, Finland. The station is located about three kilometres from the Turku Central railway station in the immediate vicinity of the Turku Science Park. All trains between Helsinki and Turku stop at Kupittaa. The station is part of...

, next to Finnish national road 1

Finnish national road 1

The Finnish national road 1 is the main route between the major cities of Helsinki and Turku in southern Finland. It runs from Munkkiniemi in Helsinki to the VI District of Turku, and is part of the European route E18...

 (part of European route E18

European route E18

European route E18 runs from Craigavon in the United Kingdom to Saint Petersburg in Russia, passing through Norway, Sweden, and Finland. It is about 1,890 km in length.-United Kingdom:...

) between Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 and Turku.

According to a version of the legend, the first pagan

Paganism

Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....

 Finns were baptised

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 into Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

 by the Bishop Henry

Bishop Henry

Saint Henry was a medieval English clergyman...

 at a spring in Kupittaa Park on Midsummer Day in the year 1155. In the 18th century, the spring was used as a spa

Thermal bath

A thermal bath is a warm body of water. It is often referred to as a spa, which is traditionally used to mean a place where the water is believed to have special health-giving properties, though note that many spas offer cold water or mineral water treatments.A thermal bath may be part of a...

 facility.

Name

The name Kupittaa may be associated with an old border and may be related to the word kupitsa a name for a boundary mark. Another theory is that it comes from the Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

 word for a merchant

Merchant

A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...

, kupets.

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