Articles
The garden flora of Old Rauma, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Article number
1345_18
Pages
137 – 142
Language
English
Abstract
Rauma is a medieval town located on the west coast of southern Finland.
In 1991, UNESCO listed the core area of the town, Old Rauma, as a World Heritage Site due to the well preserved northern European wood architecture and urbanism.
Current Old Rauma is a residential and commercial area of 29 ha, divided into 237 plots.
The author investigated the spontaneous and cultivated flora of Old Rauma in 2017. The aim of the floristic survey was to assess the authenticity of courtyards in a historical urban setting.
Altogether 243 yards were surveyed for their cultivated and cultural relict plants two times during summer 2017. Heirloom varieties of fruit trees, berries and shrub roses were common, likewise such perennials as Aquilegia vulgaris, Convallaria majalis, and Hepatica nobilis, traditionally grown in old Finnish gardens.
The most characteristic cultural relict species was Corydalis nobilis, which originates from the 18th century.
The floristic survey indicated that large-growing trees with abundant seed production, such as Betula pendula and Acer platanoides, might endanger the historic townscape, similarly as the numerous columnar cultivars of Thuja occidentalis, planted in residential yards during the past 30 years.
Increasing knowledge of the biocultural heritage hidden in domestic yards would benefit the management of the World Cultural Site.
In 1991, UNESCO listed the core area of the town, Old Rauma, as a World Heritage Site due to the well preserved northern European wood architecture and urbanism.
Current Old Rauma is a residential and commercial area of 29 ha, divided into 237 plots.
The author investigated the spontaneous and cultivated flora of Old Rauma in 2017. The aim of the floristic survey was to assess the authenticity of courtyards in a historical urban setting.
Altogether 243 yards were surveyed for their cultivated and cultural relict plants two times during summer 2017. Heirloom varieties of fruit trees, berries and shrub roses were common, likewise such perennials as Aquilegia vulgaris, Convallaria majalis, and Hepatica nobilis, traditionally grown in old Finnish gardens.
The most characteristic cultural relict species was Corydalis nobilis, which originates from the 18th century.
The floristic survey indicated that large-growing trees with abundant seed production, such as Betula pendula and Acer platanoides, might endanger the historic townscape, similarly as the numerous columnar cultivars of Thuja occidentalis, planted in residential yards during the past 30 years.
Increasing knowledge of the biocultural heritage hidden in domestic yards would benefit the management of the World Cultural Site.
Authors
L. Lindén
Keywords
biocultural diversity, courtyard, cultural heritage, cultural relict plant, domestic garden, historic townscape
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