Audioguides Lahti

Lahti sits at the southern end of Lake Vesijärvi, on the Salpausselkä ridge -- a terminal moraine left by the retreating ice sheet after the last glacial period. The ridge runs across southern Finland and has been designated a UNESCO Global Geopark; it gives Lahti its distinctive topography of slopes and ski jumps. The city grew up quickly around the railways after 1870, earning the nickname Chicago of Finland for its industrial pace and, according to some sources, for crime rates that came with rapid growth. The city received market town rights in 1878 and official city status in 1905. It is young by Finnish standards and fast in Finnish terms, which is not necessarily very fast by anyone else's.

In 2021 Lahti won the European Green Capital Award -- a recognition of the city's serious, long-term commitment to environmental management.

The sewage system was cleaned up, industrial emissions were cut, and the local electric bus fleet expanded. Jean Sibelius connections give the city cultural prestige above its size: the Sibelius Hall, opened in 2000 partly as a concert venue and partly as a congress center, is a remarkable building of glass and laminated wood, and the Lahti Symphony Orchestra that performs there has an international recording reputation. The annual Lahti International Organ Competition draws players from across the world.