The city of Tampere lies on an isthmus situated between '''Lake Näsijärvi''', which reaches far to the north, and '''Lake Pyhäjärvi''' in the south. The '''Tammerkoski rapids''' that run through Tampere connect the two lakes with a fall of 18 metres. In the 7th century population started to gather to this connecting point of two waterways, and in the 18th century people started to understand the importance of the rapids as a way of making hydropower. So it came to be that Tampere was officially founded in the 1st of October in 1779 by Gustav III of Sweden.During the 19th century Tampere grew rapidly to be an industrial center, and in the latter part of the century the town had almost half of Finland's industrial labour, earning it the nickname '''Manchester of the North''' — which still lives on in the city's nickname ''Manse''. Most of the industry was centered around the rapids, with the textile and paper industries particularly important.During the Finnish Civil War (1918) Tampere was one of the Red (Communist) strongholds, and it was supposed to be the country's next capital. However, in April 1918 the victorious White forces captured the town after a large battle and seized 10,000 prisoners. In 1927 the first of the factories stopped industrial operations, and city offices later moved into the empty buildings. After 1960 most of the factories started to cease operations, but the buildings were kept. Nowadays central Tampere is characterized by these old red-brick industrial buildings, most of them housing offices, restaurants, and cultural activities. http://wikitravel.org/en/Tampere