Tyresö Municipality has four twin towns, all of them in EU countries:
Cesis in Latvia, Savigny le Temple in France, Wejherowo in Poland and Borgå (Porvoo) in Finland.
Cesis, Latvia (since 1991)
Cesis has approximately 23 000 inhabitants and celebrated in 2006 its 800 years anniversary. The town is situated north-east of the Latvian capital Riga. Cesis dates back as far as the 13th century and has played a great role in the history of Latvia. The town was founded in 1383. One of its most important industries today is the brewing trade.
In the Middle Ages, Cesis had a ring-wall with three large towers and four gates and the Master of the Livonian Order resided in the town. Its strategic position along the river Gauja made Cesis for a long time an administrative and commercial centre. From Riga the trade route led via Gauja through Sigulda, Cesis, Tikat, and Aluksne to Pskov.
In the 1620s Axel Oxenstierna was enfeoffed with the diocese of Cesis and Vendens (German for Cesis). In the 17th and 18th centuries Cesis was hit by war and fires. At the end of the 18th century some parts of the city were rebuilt, and during the latter half of the 19th century the town resumed its position as a commercial centre. The beautiful river Gauja attracted tourists and summer visitors, who contributed to a renewal of the town at the beginning of the 20th century.
Housing
The Janis Church was built in 1284 in Gothic style and its tower is 216 feet high. The centre of Cesis mostly consists of older housing, mainly two or three storeys high. On the outskirts are detached houses and apartment blocks.
Trade and industry
Cesis has several building companies, breweries, dairies, furniture makers, and food producers. Several food companies are engaged in milk and meat processing. The largest brewery in Cesis has more than 80 employees. Other people work in the ready-made clothing industry, in car repair shops, and as craftsmen. In Priekuli outside the town there are fields for cultivation experiments.
Nature
Near Cesis is a beautiful national park that encloses the river Gauja and its tributaries. In the national park there are many interesting nature areas, e.g. the rock formation Zvartas Iesis, which is 53 feet high and rises south-west of Cesis on the river Amata. There are also hiking trails and hills with a fine view. In winter the park is a sports centre for the whole of Latvia with opportunities for, for example, slalom and cross-country skiing.
Activities together with Tyresö
Exchange of schoolboys and schoolgirls, travelling grants in conjunction with companies in Tyresö, municipal administrative-technical exchange, e.g. in the environmental area.
Website: Cesis in Latvia
Savigny le Temple, France (since 1985)
Location: Approximately 25 miles south-east of Paris in the region of Ile-de-France and the department of Seine-et-Marne.
Population: About 22 000.
Savigny is in the Brie district.
Brief history
The old village of le Bourg is the original Savigny with restored village housing. Here is the old town hall and a beautiful medieval church, Eglise-Saint-Germain. In le Bourg there is also a fine well-preserved farm, which is now a museum.
The Clary family (Charles XIV's consort Désirée Clary - Queen Desideria) at one time owned Savigny Castle, which is now under restoration. One school in Savigny is named after Désirée Clary. Savigny also has a street named after Olof Palme.
Housing
The building of the "new" Savigny began in 1973 together with other development in the neighbouring area - the so-called new town of Melun-Sénart, i.e. the area between the town of Melun and the wooded area of Sénart. Besides Savigny, the Melun-Sénart area comprises 9 municipalities.
Apartment blocks are concentrated in Centre Ville. Elsewhere there are residential areas with varied housing. All of them are characterised by artificial ponds/pools and fine parks. In each town district there is a small shopping centre.
Labour market
In the eastern parts of Savigny there is an industrial area and a large commercial centre with a great variety of shops.
Many of the Savigny residents work in Paris or neighbouring municipalities. There are frequent train services to Paris.
Website: Savigny-le-Temple in France
Wejherowo, Poland (since 1993)
Location: Approximately 28 miles north of Gdansk and 16 miles north-west of Gdynia. Approximately 19 miles to the sea. The town has good railway connections with the rest of Poland, e.g. commuter trains on the route Gdynia - Sopot - Gdansk, three dynamic cities in an economically fast growing area.
The town is situated in the eastern part of the Reda and £eba river valleys and is surrounded by beautiful wooded hills and valleys that form a contrast to the soft mountain skyline. Almost 48% of the town area is covered by woods.
The population of Wejherowo is about 50 000.
Some of the inhabitants are Kashubians, a Slavic people who originally lived on the Baltic Sea coast west of the mouth of the Vistula. They are bilingual, speaking both Polish and Kashubian.
Brief history
The name of the town originates from Jakub Wejher, who founded it in 1643. Wejher was a ruler of the province of Pomerania and died in the Swedish-Polish war in 1657.
The town belonged to Prussia from 1772 - when the first partition of Poland between Prussia, Russia, and Austria took place - until 1920, after which it belonged to Germany.
The town was hard hit during the Second World War.
Labour market
Wejherowo is an important centre for industry, commerce, service, culture, and education.
Of the working population the majority are engaged in industry, service, and commerce. A large number of them work in Gdynia and Gdansk. Most of those who work in Wejherowo are employed by the large cement works or by the forestry and clothing industries.
Housing
Almost 20% of the housing was destroyed during the Second World War. Immediately after the end of the war in May 1945 rebuilding began including reconstruction of the town as it looked like in Wejher's time. Characteristic of the central parts of Wejherowo are the beautiful old buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries. On the outskirts of the town are areas with apartment blocks and detached houses.
Some suggestions for sight-seeing
Calvarium (Kalwaria Wejherowska) was founded by J. Wejher in 1649. Calvarium is a complex of 26 chapels from the 17th and 18th centuries. The beautiful town church, completed in 1651, in baroque and Louis Seize style is also really worth seeing. In the church is the sepulchral crypt of the Wejher family.
Other interesting buildings are the Urban Culture Hall and the Museum of Kashubian Literature and Music. The collections are not large but interesting and important to Kashubian culture.
Website: Wejherowo in Poland
Borgå (Porvoo), Finland (since 1966)
The town of Borgå is situated in eastern Uusimaa on the Gulf of Finland approximately 31 miles east of Helsinki. The population is about 43 700. In order of size, the town is number 16 in Finland. Borgå is the central town of eastern Uusimaa, which has about 100 000 inhabitants.
The present town was formally founded on 1 January 1997, when the rural district of Borgå and the town of Borgå were dissolved and a new local district was formed. The name of the new local district is Borgå, for which the designation "town" is used. The original town of Borgå was founded in 1346.
Area
The area of the town of Borgå is 252 sq. miles and the population density 26 inhabitants per sq. mile. The town area is distributed on the town centre, the large suburbs near the centre, e.g. Vårberga, Huktis, Näse, Pepot, and Gammelbacka, village centres, and extensive rural and archipelagian areas.
Population
Of the Borgå residents 51% are female and 49% male. The town is bilingual, the proportion of Finnish-speaking people is 62.2% and of Swedish-speaking people 36%. Other languages are spoken by 1.8% of the population (Statistics Centre, 31 December 1995).
Industry and trade
Borgå has about 17 400 workplaces, and the gainfully employed population comprises
18 100 persons, i.e. the degree of workplace self-sufficiency is 96%.
Website Borgå Municipality (in English)
For further information on our twin towns contact Mette Kjörstad tel. 46-8-5782 9159