Kajaani Things to Do

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The Evangelic-Lutheran church in Kajaani is one of the finest examples of the new Gothic architectural movement, which originated in mid-18th century England. It was completed in about a year and it was consecrated the same year, in 1896.

The church is entirely made out of wood. It was designed by a Finnish architect Jacob Ahrenberg (1847-1914), who is one of the most notable designers of this particular style in Finland. Other significant creations of his include Langinkoski Imperial Fishing Lodge, Kotka (1889) (built for Alexander III, emperor of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland), the renovation and redecoration of the Finnish Prime Minister's Official Residence, Kesäranta (1904), two new reception rooms within the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, including The Hall of State (previously the Throne Room) (1907), Synagoga of Helsinki (1906), several churches, schools and garrison buildings.

The altar piece in the Evagelic-Lutheran church of Kajaani portrays Jesus and Saint Peter. It was painted by a local artist T.G. Tuhkanen in 1925. He is best known of paintings portraying the region and its residents.

The church was repainted and renovated inside in Autumn 2006. It is now much lighter and airier than it was previously.

Opening times in June-August, 7 days a week 10.00-20.00

Other times by arrangement with "Kajaani Info", tel. +358 8 61552555.
The Info guides speak English, Finnish, German and Swedish.

Free admission

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This picturesque wooden church was built in 1726. It houses highly valuable wall and ceiling paitings from the late 18th Century. The paintings were created by Emanuel Granberg. Over the years the paintings have suffered substantial damage caused by the leaking roof and have had to been restored twice in 1851 and between 1937-1942.

One of the best preserved paintings by Granberg portrays 'The Last Judgement'. It is located above the main entrance. The top part illustrates the joys of Heaven and the bottom the misery of Hell. A substantial part of the bottom bit was, however, painted over or completely removed most probably during the initial conservation of the original paintings in 1851, because it is thought that the female members of the communion found the pictures highly upsetting and allegedly some even fainted due to the shock and horror. ;-)

The painting in the front of the church at the altar was painted by Margareta Capsia. It depicts 'The Holy Communion' and it has been in the church since 1727.

The church has a seating for 800 people. There is no electricity or heating in the church. Regular services are usually organised in summer as well as in Christmas.

The church is open daily between 10am and 6pm from end of May to the end of August (give and take a few days). On any other times, please contact Kajaani Info tel. +358 (0)8-615 52555 and ask for a guide.

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The ruins of Kajaani castle is the last medieval style fortification in the Nordic countries. Unlike its central European counterparts, it is not a royal or aristocratic castle, but its purpose was to protect Northern Ostrobothnia from Russians and oversee movements on the inland waterway. It also functioned as an administrative centre and a prison. The castle was built in 1604 on an island in the middle of Kajaaninjoki River.

The original drawings of the castle comprised a rectangular ring wall surrounding the castle yard, with round cannon towers on either side. The most famous inmate in the castle was historian, Johannes Messenius, who was charged with conspiracy in the Catholic Counter Reformation and lived in the castle from 1616 to 1635. During this, he wrote Scandia Illustrata, the history of the Nordic countries.

In 1950 Count Per Brahe ordered a second construction stage of the castle, which was completed in 1666. During this, many wooden structures of the castle were replaced with stone structures to form a fortress.

In 1716, Russian invaders surrounded the castle for several weeks. The 50 odd men defending the castle were forced to surrender due to lack of food, firewood and ammunition. They became prisoners of war in Russia and the invaders blew up the castle. The castle was restored to Sweden under the Treaty of Nystad in 1721.

Although conservation has been carried on periodically since the 1880s, the ruins have suffered serious damage and need urgent repairs. In addition, the locals started using the stones as foundations for their houses. Another drag about the ruins is that they are located underneath a concrete bridge that is commonly used by cars. Although there have been proposals to ban cars on the bridge, nothing concrete has happened yet.

The city of Kajaani and the National Board of Antiquities launched a development project for the ruins a few years ago now. The aim is to restore the ruins and make the surrounding area more attractive to visitors and residents alike.

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Purola is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Kajaani. It is located on the south side of the river, next to pond “Kaupunginlampi” (the Town Pond). Its neighbour in the east is an area called Puistola, which also houses mainly detached wooden houses from the 1950s. Initially, the detached houses in Purola were occupied mainly by the staff of the paper and sawmill which functioned in Kajaani from 1907 up until 2008.

The old Mansard roofed houses remain from the old times. Although erroneously spelled, they are named after a French architect François Mansart who revived the interest in this style that had been characteristic of French Renaissance architecture. A mansard roof has two slopes on each of the four sides. The lower slope is steeper than the upper slope, which is usually not visible from the ground. Such roofs make maximum use of the interior space of the attic and is considered a practical way for adding a storey to an existing building. For this reason, older buildings were often remodelled with mansard roofs.

Under the influence of the Neo-baroque revival, the mansard became a common feature in many late 19th century buildings in Europe and North America. The houses in Puistola are most likely from the early 20th century although it is often difficult to specify the exact age of old buildings, since many of them have been renovated at different times.

The town plan in Puistola differs from the rest of the town. There are three U-shaped streets that dominate the area. Nowadays the area is mainly residential with quaint wooden detached houses. Walk along ‘Sissikatu’ once you reach the park on the side of the Town Pond. Bear left to the take and keep on walking until you reach the first U-shaped street, ‘Lamminkatu’. Turn right and keep on going until you reach ‘Makkolankatu’. Turn right again and walk back to the town passing the paper and saw mill along ‘Tehdaskatu’.

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Have a look at Villa Koskikara.
After the partly destruction of the Kajaani Paper Company during the second world war, the management has built an official residence and reception rooms for its management. This is the villa Koskikara. Later the house was abandoned, but during its 'high time' it has seen prominent guests like Urho Kekkonen (the Finnish president who was the longest in this position) and Leonid Brezhnev, former President of the Soviet Union.
Nowadays the houses holds a restaurant (Ravintola 'Sirius').

Just opposite the tar channel you will find a monument for the Jaegers, an elite infantry troop. The Jaegers were volunteers who went for training to Germany during the first world war.
Kajaani was a center for the Jääkärit on their way towards and back from Germany. It is estimated that about 250 of them used the route through Kajaani.

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Kajaani was well located at the transport route for tar towards Oulu. The tar was produced in the wide forests of middle Finland then on waterways transported via Kajaani, the lake Oulu (Oulujärvi) and Oulu river (Oulujoki) to the town of Oulu. There the main amount of tar was sold and exported to the big sea nations of Europe. The tar was used to make the wooden sailing boats water proofed.
The small house at the channel is the lock keepers home.

For info check ---> here...

Elias Lönnrot was a doctor in Kajaani, who formed the Finnish identity by travelling and collecting poems and stories from the people of Karelia. He finished his work, the Finnish national epic Kalevala in 1835. In case you can read Finnish, have a look here: Kalevala in Project Runeberg.
Two flag days, day of Kalevala (February 28) and Day of the Finnish language (April 9), honor Elias Lönnrot.