Lappeenranta

Savonlinna Cathedral is the main church of Savonlinna’s Evangelical-Lutheran parish. The name of the church originates from the cathedral, the seat of a bishop, located in Savonlinna from 1897 to 1924. The church was designed by architect A.H. Dahlström in 1858, and it was consecrated on 2 February 1879. The church was damaged during an air raid in 1940. The reconstruction was designed by architect B. Lilljeqvist. The altar choir ceiling fresco, paintings on the gallery bannisters, and the chandeliers were created by artist Antti Salmenlinna. The altarpiece “Jesus in Gethsemane” is a triptych painted by artist Paavo Leinonen. The church textiles, designed by artist Helena Karvonen, are from 1979. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/savonlinna-cathedral/

The building of Olavinlinna Castle began in 1475. The Danish-born founder of the castle, knight Erik Axelsson Tott, decided that a powerful fortification should be build to protect the strategically important Savo region http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/statue-musta-paessi-black-ram/

The Museum Shop of the Olavinlinna Castle has a wide range of the National Board of Antiquities’ publications as well as other historical books, nostalgic posters and postcards. http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/museum-shop-of-olavinlinna-castle/

Finland has hundreds of market squares, but only one with the name Savonlinna! The location alone in the heart of the lively summer tourist city, amidst the exceptionally beautiful lake scenery and on the banks of the fast-flowing Haapasalmi, which connects the lakes Haapavesi and Pihlajavesi, makes Savonlinna market square unique. The principal city parks and the passenger harbour are integral parts of its setting. During the festival season, the start of each day of opera is celebrated in Harbour Park next to the market square every morning. Historical steamships call their goodbyes in the harbour and modern motor cruisers start their journeys from their berths at the square, adding their own greetings to the general hubbub. With the general structural change, the businesses on the market square have also adapted, putting more emphasis on the summer, which has become all the livelier with an ambience you can almost touch. The market provides unforgettable moments for visitors as well as locals, enjoying the delicacies of market cafés, fish restaurants and market stalls. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/shops/savonlinna-marketsquare/

Spahotel Casino is located on a magnificent lakeside site on Kasino island, right in the centre of the city of Savonlinna. The hotel complex includes a spa, the hotel, a restaurant and a wide range of wellness and free-time facilities and services. Also the Savonlinna Hall, just across the forecourt, offers concerts, theatre performance and other cultural events. Spahotel Casino offers a wide range of spa, beauty care, wellness and health services. Hot water pools are an excellent way of relaxing after a busy day. Also, try a waterfall massage in the outdoor hot waterfall. To exercise, you can swim upstream. After a spell in a Finnish sauna or a steam bath, in the summertime, you can take a dip into the blue Lake Saimaa. We have also thought of the little ones for whom there is special children’s pool. Spahotel Casino also has a wide range of different kind of treatments available in the spa. Treatments vary from recreational treatments, rehabilitation and physiotherapy to beauty and wellness treatments. Fysiosatama physiotherapy, Savonlinna unit of the Kyyhkylä Rehabilitation Centre and Ruusunen Day Spa are all located on the second floor of the Spahotel Casino pampering guests. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/spahotel-casino/

Johanna and Reijo Oras purchased the Tuunaankartano Manor, situated in the heart of the Retretti area in Punkaharju. The manor-house, built in the 1910s, is the permanent location for Johanna Oras´s summer exhibition. A side building will be renovated into the artist´s summer atelier, offering something exceptional in Finland; the public will have the chance to follow the artist at work and see some of the mysterious birth processes of a work of art from inspiration to the final brush touch. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/the-johanna-oras-manor-gallery/

Lusto – The Finnish Forest Museum is a destination for the entire family. It’s a place that brings back memories and creates new experiences. The national museum responsible for forest culture is located in Punkaharju, in the most beautiful landscape of ridges and lakes in eastern Finland. Lusto’s exhibitions and events provide a diverse and illustrative insight into the significance of forests in the life of Finns. Lusto is sure to appeal to visitors of all ages! https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/lusto-the-finninsh-forest-museum/

The church of Kerimäki is the world’s largest Christian wooden church and has the most spacious interior in Finland. It is 45 meters long, 42 meters wide and 27 meters high. The height of the dome is 37 meters. http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/kerimaki-church/

Hytermä islands are nature reserve area and museum islands, about 7km from the centre of Kerimäki towards Hälvä. Hytermä was declared a protected nature area in the year 1931, and the fact that is has survived almost completely in its natural state is all down to an ex-rural police chief (1916-1940) Heikki Väyrynen, a.k.a. Romu-Heikki, and his wife. The islands have a one-of-a-kind collection of art made from rocks and easily walked nature paths. Hytermä can only be reached by boat which you can rent before rowing the 400m to the island. Once there you will also find a wonderful sandy beach and a pier. Hytermä is situated 7 km from the centre of Kerimäki (Savonlinna-Kerimäki 23 km), address: Hälvänsaarentie 80, Kerimäki. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/hyterma/

Artist Pentti Ikäheimonen art gallery Villi Villa is located in the middle of a beautiful Finnish lake landscape, only 5 km from the center of Rantasalmi. Come and explore the remodelled building and artwork that breathe both rural and natural beauty. The gallery presents a sales exhibition of Pentti Ikäheimonen and visiting artists as well as works by former masters. https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/shops/the-art-gallery-villi-villa/

The church was originally made of wood. The first stone walls were built between 1410 and 1420 and in about 1450 the church was expanded four meters towards east and six meters towards south. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/porvoo-cathedral/

Porvoo Museum is both a historical museum and an art museum. The two buildings in which it is housed date from the 1760s and stand on the edge of the square beside the Old Town Hall in the heart of the oldest part of Porvoo. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/porvoo-museum/

Welcome to Finland’s oldest home museum! Come and enjoy the authentic atmosphere of the 1860s bourgeois home (kirjailijakoti) as guests of the Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) and his wife Fredrika (1807-1879). The museum’s unique atmosphere is created by furniture, works of art, dishes and old house plants, many of which have been grown from Fredrika’s cuttings. During the summer season you can discover the floral splendour of the house’s carefully restored garden. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/j-l-runebergs-home/

This private collection is open to the public during the summer months and to groups by arrangement throughout the year. One of the best toy museums in the country, exhibiting a large number of toys, all of which children have played with at some point in time. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/porvoo-doll-and-toy-museum/

Kokonniemi is a ski center located next to downtown Porvoo (under 50 km from Helsinki). The ski area consists of six very different slopes, a ski rental where you can rent both snowboards and skis as well as buy the ski passes required for the lifts. Next to the ski rental, you will find the restaurant Hölmöpulu where you can both dine or simply relax with a cup of hot chocolate. If you prefer cross country skiing there are many different tracks to choose from around the downhill area, we also rent cross country packages in case you do not have your own gear with you. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kokonniemi-ski-centre/

One of St. Petersburg's most famous and popular visitor attractions, the palace and park at Peterhof (also known as Petrodvorets) are often referred to as "the Russian Versailles", although many visitors conclude that the comparison does a disservice to the grandeur and scope of this majestic estate. Versailles was, however, the inspiration for Peter the Great's desire to build an imperial palace in the suburbs of his new city and, after an aborted attempt at Strelna, Peterhof - which means "Peter's Court" in German - became the site for the Tsar's Monplaisir Palace, and then of the original Grand Palace. The estate was equally popular with Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth, who ordered the expansion of the Grand Palace and greatly extended the park and the famous system of fountains, including the truly spectacular Grand Cascade. Improvements to the park continued throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Catherine the Great, after leaving her own mark on the park, moved the court to Pushkin, but Peterhof once again became the official Imperial Residence in the reign of Nicholas I, who ordered the building of the modest Cottage Palace in 1826. Like almost all St. Petersburg's suburban estates, Peterhof was ravaged by German troops during the Second World War. It was, however, one of the first to be resurrected and, thanks to the work of military engineers as well as over 1,000 volunteers, the Lower Park opened to the public in 1945 and the facades of the Grand Palace were restored in 1952. The name was also de-Germanicized in 1944, becoming Petrodvorets, the name under which the surrounding town is still known. The palace and park are once again known as Peterhof. http://www.saint-petersburg.com/peterhof/

Oravivuori arc point is a part of Struve Geodetic Arc. The Struve Geodetic Arc was accepted into the Unesco World Heritage List in 2005. It represents the cultural heritage of science and technology. The Struve Geodetic Arc was laid out and measured in 1816-1855 with the aim of determining the size and shape of the Earth. The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulation measurements stretching from the Arctic Sea to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820km. Six stations points are located in Finland. The point of the Struve Arc Puolakka is located at the top of Oravivuori in Korpilahti. It is the most famous of the Finnish Struve Geodetic arc points, because it is located at the top of a hill and there are beautiful views to the lake Päijänne. On this spot a triangulation tower has been erected to commemorate the importance of the Oravivuori (or Puolakka) measuring station to the mapping of Finland. https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/palveluhakemisto/6656/oravivuori_triangulation_tower_-_19th_century_research_station

Although it is only a 20th century creation, Palace Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most famous sights of St. Petersburg, and is quite literally unmissable for most visitors to the city, who will find themselves continually using the bridge to move between Palace Square, home to the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum, and the numerous historic attractions on Vasilevskiy Ostrov. Despite the grandeur and extravagance of the surrounding architecture, Palace Bridge itself is a relatively simple structure, comprising five cast-iron spans resting on granite-clad, packed-rubble piers. Height of the bridge was strictly limited, so as not to obstruct the view of the monuments around. The central span of the bridge splits into two wings, which are raised through an angle of over 45° to allow ships to pass up the Neva River, and the view of the golden spire of the Ss. Peter and Paul Cathedral between the two raised wings is one of the most widespread and memorable images of St. Petersburg. It also makes Palace Embankment the centre of nightly celebrations during the White Nights, when thousands of locals and visitors gather to watch Palace Bridge open in the small hours. http://www.saint-petersburg.com/bridges/unmissable-palace-bridge/

This Church was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was severely wounded and died in March 1881.The church was built from 1883 till 1907. The construction was funded by the imperial family. Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The Church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world. The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture. http://www.visit-petersburg.ru/en/showplace/195645/

When Jyväskylä was established in 1837, architect Carl Ludvig Engel planned to build a town hall next to the church square. The building was designed by Karl Viktor Reinius and completed in 1899 becoming a prominent building in a town dominated by wooden buildings. Over 120 years the City Hall has been several times under reconstruction, yet the interior and exterior have been preserved. Currently, the City Hall has offices and facilities for the Mayor, the City Board, the Registry Office, the City Office, Legal Services and the information desk. It is also a venue for numerous city events. Free guided tours (in Finnish and sometimes in other languages) are arranged throughout the year. https://visitcentralfinland.com/company/jyvaskyla-city-hall/

Take a look at the varied works of architect Alvar Aalto. In addition to his architecture, the exhibit displays Aalto's glass and furniture design. The museum building is also designed by Alvar Aalto. https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/palveluhakemisto/195/alvar_aalto_museum

Located on Church Park and close to the pedestrian precinct, Jyväskylä Art Museum’s Holvi is a venue for pictorial art, a place for people to gather, and to interact. The main exhibition in summer 2010 showcases masterpieces from the Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum – Ladoga Karelia patrons Elisabeth and Herman Hallonblad assembled a collection of works by much-loved Finnish artists from the late 19th to the early 20th century. The lower gallery features two artists of the current generation, Jyväskylä-based Antti Jokinen and Duncan Butt Juvonen, who has a summer cottage in Uurainen. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/jyvaeskylae-art-museum/

Jyväskylä is famous for its active amateur theatre scene. It is also home to the Jyväskylä City Theatre and many professional theatre companies as well as numerous summer theatres. https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/see-experience/theatres-performances

The Harju ridge and its landmark, the Vesilinna observation tower, greet visitors from nearly all directions. Harju, a popular recreational area, is a pine forest haven in the middle of the city. A jogging track runs around the area, which also has many paths and trails for pedestrians. The main route from the city centre to Harju runs through the majestic Nero stairs at the top end of Gummeruksenkatu. Named after municipal engineer Oskar Nero, the stairs were constructed as a job creation programme in 1925. Today, they may be even better known as the “stairs of knowledge” among residents, because of the university. Or if you ask for directions to the Harju stairs, locals will know what you are talking about. The Vesilinna tower was built in 1953. It serves as a water and observation tower as well as the location of Café & Restaurant Vesilinna and the Natural History Museum of Central Finland. Its observation deck offers magnificent views in all directions. In addition, the Vesilinna observation tower (also known as the Harju tower) is an essential part of the soundscape in Jyväskylä. https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/see-experience/the-centre-of-jyvaskyla/harju-ridge-vesilinna-observation-tower

Söderskär lighthouse island combines a rugged but breathakingly beautiful environment with a fascinating history. In summer there are cruises to the island for the public, and for groups there is the possibility of chartering a cruise. During your visit you will hear many fascinating stories and also visit the art exhibition, which changes every summer. You can book accommodation in the lighthouse from July to September. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/soederskaer-lighthouse/

In the 17th century, Narva was a city on the border between Sweden and Russia, which Sweden wanted to turn into a regional capital. The designer of the defence fortifications was a military engineer and architect Erik Dahlberg. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/narva-bastions

This is Narva’s oldest park, an example of park architecture from the end of the 19th century. Located on the Bastions. There are two memorials in the park and its environs. The first is the iron cross erected on the Victoria Basion in 1853 in memory of the Russian soldiers that died during the Siege of Narva in the Great Northern War. The second memorial marks the graves of soldiers that died in the War of Independence in November 1918. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/dark-garden-in-narva

German, Swedish and Italian architectural influences are mixed in the building style of the Town Hall that dates back to the 17th century (architect G. Teuffel). The architectural complex of the Town Hall Square included the Town Hall, Stock Exchange, and residences of the wealthy Swedish citizenry. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/narva-town-hall

The Northern yard is our attempt of recreating the 17th century. Here, we imagine genuine and vibrant early modern urban quarters with houses, people, and their everyday lives. This way, a guest of the Northern yard is instantly taken 300–400 years back in time. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/northern-yard-of-narva-castle

The monument dedicated to the 100th birthday of Paul Keres, an Estonian chess player and international grandmaster, is located on a square between Puškin Street and Peeter Square. The authors of the monument are well-known Estonian sculptors Aivar Simson and Paul Mänd. Their idea was to make it possible for people to sit opposite to Keres behind the chessboard and think about the next move. The monument depicts the game between Keres and Walter Browne in Vancouver in 1975. The monument mistakenly shows Keres playing with white pieces. The sculpture is made of bronze. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/monument-to-paul-keres-1

Narva Museum today – it is the Narva stronghold, the Northern Courtyard, and the Art Gallery. These are more than architectural monuments, as the castle and the gallery also have exhibition halls. The exhibition of Narva castle talks about the history of Narva from the 13th century until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1991, the Art Gallery was opened. This allowed the museum to host Estonian and foreign art exhibitions in addition to displaying its own art collection. In 2007, Põhjaõu was opened as a new tourist attraction in the Northern Courtyard of the castle; this is how Narva Museum interprets the district of artisans dating from the 17th century. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/narva-museum-1

There are two kinds of exhibitions in the North Karelian Museum. Local history and folk-tradition is introduced in the permanent exhibitions. The changing exhibitions are either own or assembled by the other museums. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/the-north-karelian-museum/

Joensuu Art Museum is situated in the town centre near the market square. In addition to the permanent exhibition, the museum arranges multiple temporary exhibitions of Finnish and foreign art every year. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/joensuu-art-museum-onni/