1480 on the site of previous wooden church buildings. The sacristy, the oldest part of the church, and armory were removed after the church caught fire in 1823. 1800–2000 The National Author of Finland, Aleksis Kivi, lived in Siuntio in Fanjunkars croft from 1864 to 1871. The old municipality center around the church started to lose its importance after the construction of the coastal railway. The new railway station was built a few kilometers south from the church which resulted in the creation of the new municipal center around the railway station. After the Second World War, parts of Southern Siuntio were leased to Soviet Union as part of the Porkkala Naval Base for 50 years following the 1944 Moscow Armistice between Finland, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom. Although the land was returned to Finland in 1956, signs of Soviet occupation can still be found around the area, including military orders written in Cyrillic script on the walls of the dairy house of the Sjundby Manor House and a Soviet Triumphal Arch near Pickala Manor House. 2000–present In 2011 Siuntio, together with municipalities of Karjalohja, Sammatti and Nummi-Pusula, decided to merge to the city of Lohja starting in 2013. The decision was made following the encouragement from the Finnish State to merge smaller municipalities together to create larger administrative areas to eventually cut costs. However the decision caused a conflict between the Siuntio political parties also dividing the population, and after several unclear negotiation Siuntio failed to deliver any kinds of answers and therefore was cut out of the merge with Lohja. In 2018 Siuntio joined the Helsinki Regional Transport securing good public transportation connections to Helsinki sub-region. Politics Results of the 2011 Finnish parliamentary election in Siuntio: National Coalition Party 25.0% Swedish People's Party 21.5% Social Democratic Party 16.6% Finns Party 16.2% Green League 10.2% Centre Party 4.3% Left Alliance 3.5% Christian Democrats 1.7% Nature and geography Siuntio is located on the south coast of Finland, west from the capital Helsinki. It is neighboured by Ingå in west, Kirkkonummi in east, Lohja in north-west and Vihti in north. The hilly landscape of Siuntio with its valleys are characteristic for this municipality. The northern part of Siuntio has many high hills and a large esker covered in forest while the southern part of Siuntio is less hilly but also covered in forests. Smaller and larger lakes can also