5 Euro of Finland 2013 UNC - Provincial Buildings: Tavastia

The Provincial Buildings coin series celebrates buildings or structures relating to Finland’s historical provinces. Each of these landmarks describes in its own unique way Finnish culture, the spirit of the time and the people themselves. The ’Provincial Buildings’ coin series memorialises one building or structure from each of Finland’s historical provinces. These provinces are Åland, Finland Proper, Satakunta, Uusimaa, Karelia, Tavastia, Savonia, Ostrobothnia and Lapland.

This coin depicts a place where the people of Tavastia have congregated for more than a millennium. The medieval stone Church of St. Lawrence in Janakkala was consecrated in 1520, but the people of Tavastia had been using the location for worship and gatherings for centuries before that. A clear sacrificial spring from pagan days still bubbles by the church hill.