Keila () is a town and an
urban municipality in
Harju County in north-western
Estonia. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding rural municipality –
Keila Parish.
History
The oldest traces of human settlement in Keila trace back 2000 to 3000 years BC. Around 1000 years ago the village of Keila was established along the Keila river. In
1219 the Danish conquered Northern-Estonia and chose Keila as the site on which the Vomentakŋ
parochial Revala county church was to be built. The first church was a small wooden structure dedicated primarily to St. Michael which was replaced with a stone church at the end of the 13th century.
Subsequently, the first written mention of Keila (
Keikŋl) comes from Danish evaluation book writings in
1241.
In the
15th-16th century a settlement comprising some tens of buildings and a hundred people formed around the church.
At the same time the
Livonian Order built a small fort south-east of the church on
jõesaare (Known today as
Jõepark). Ruins of the fort were first excavated in
1976 with continued finds up to
2007.
During the
Livonian War of 1558-1583 the settlement, including the church (Later restored in
1596), was destroyed.
Further hampered by the plague and starvation in 1601-1602 the population declination reduced the community to a small church village. This was to be the case for 3 centuries. An upturn began on the second half of the 20th century. One of the first notable cultural events was the erection of a statue of
Martin Luther in
1862 near the
kirikumõis (Church manor). However the statue was completely destroyed in
1949. In
1885 the first song festival was held in Keila. The festival was composed of 19 choirs and supervised by Konstantin Türnpu from
Klooga. In
1867 the first school was opened in
Väljaotsa farm celebrating the start of education in Keila.
Keila officially became a town on
1 May,
1938.
After the railway to Keila was built, the place became known — as a
pun — as
Kegelbahn.
Keila has a station on the
Elektriraudtee rail line.
Military base
During Soviet times a military base, known as the "
Tankipolk", was built on the outskirts of the town for the housing of soldiers and tanks . The base was demolished a few years after the Soviet army left the country. Years later a residential district was built on the site of the base. The woodland areas around it have also been cleaned up and turned into paved, and partially lit, paths. During winter the area acts as a skiing track with many hills and paths. The paths range from
3 to
7 kilometers in length. The largest of the hills is known as "
Tankimägi" or "
Tank Hill".
As of 2009 no more than a few building foundations remain of the base.
Education
There are several schools in Keila.
And formerly.
Keila SOS
Hermann Gmeiner School
Population
According to the 2009 Census, the population was 9,873.
According to the 2000 Census, the population was 9,388. 82.8% were
Estonians, 12.1%
Russians, 1.8%
Ukrainians, 0.9%
Finns, 0.7%
Belarusians, 0.2%
Lithuanians, 0.1%
Poles, 0.1%
Tatars, 0.1%
Germans and 0.1%
Latvians.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Keila is
twinned with:
