Kajaani, chief town of the Kainuu district (roughly half way between the Gulf of Bothnia and the Russian frontier), was founded by the Swedish governor-general, Per Brahe, in 1651 beside the castle of Kajaaninlinna (built by Charles IX of Sweden in 1605). It lies on the banks of the Kajaaninjoki, which flows into the Oulujärvi, a large lake with an area of 1,002sq.km/387sq.mi, just northwest of the town. At the mouth of the river is a hydroelectric station.
The town is noted for the Art Museum of Kajaani featuring Finnish Modern Art and the Kajaani Town Theatre, a highly respected theatre in Finland.
The doctor and writer Elias Lönnrot (1802-84) lived in Kajaani from 1833 as district medical officer. From this base he traveled round the country collecting fragments of the Finnish national epic "Kalevala ", which he then brought together and supplemented by work of his own. Urho Kekkonen (1900-86), President of Finland, went to school in Kajaani.
This annual four-day festival takes place around the last weekend in May. The festival features various concerts featuring jazz and blues, held in cafes, halls and outdoor sites throughout Kajaani.
Address: Finland Festivals Information, Mannerheimintie 40 B, SF-00100 Helsinki, Finland
In Asemakatu (Station Street) in Kajaani is the Kainuu Museum, with collections highlighting the history and economy of northern Finland (tar), the history of the town and the national epic "Kalevala".
Address: Kainuu Museum, Asemakatu 4, SF-87100 Kajaani, Finland
Northeast of the Kajaani Town Hall, on the little island of Linnasaari, are the ruins of the fortress of Kajaaninlinna, built in 1607-66, captured and destroyed by the Russians in 1716, and restored in 1937. The Swedish historian and poet Johannes Messenius (1579-1636) was confined in the castle as a state prisoner from 1620 to 1635 and wrote a rhyming chronicle of Finland.
In the center of Kajaani is the Market Square, with the new Town Hall (1906). The old Town Hall, a wooden building designed by C. L. Engel (1831), is in Vanhatori and is now a cultural and congress center (concerts, etc.).
12km/7.5mi northwest of Kajaani lies Paltaniemi, on the south side of the Paltaselkä, a wide inlet on the Oulujärvi, with a large wooden church (1726), originally Paltamo parish church. Notable features of the interior are the altarpiece (by Margareta Capsia, ca. 1725) and the 18th century ceiling paintings by Emanuel Granberg. Nearby is the so-called Emperor's Stable, recalling Tsar Alexander I's visit to Finland. Paltaniemi was the birthplace of the great Finnish lyric poet Eino Leino (1878-1926).
Around the turn of the century the Kainuu district around Kajaani was the largest producer of wood tar in Europe. The tar was bought by merchants in the barren country of eastern Kainuu and conveyed by water in special tar boats to the ports on the Gulf of Bothnia, from which it was shipped, as "Stockholm tar", to Sweden and later to Britain and used for the caulking of boats.
The area now has a considerable woodworking industry. Several thousand of its inhabitants also work in Russian industrial establishments across the frontier (Kostamus).
The Town Church of Kajaani, a wooden building in neo-Gothic style (by Jacob Ahrenberg, 1896) has an altarpiece by Toivo Tuhkanen (1925). Nearby is the Orthodox church.
Other interesting wooden buildings are the railroad station and Urho Kekkonen's family home. The President is commemorated by an unusual monument (by Pekko Kauhanen, 1991), "Great Times".
At Sotkamo, 30km/19mi east of Kajaani on Road 18, is the Vuokatti Sports Center. The hill (326m/1,070ft) is one of the leading skiing areas in southern and central Finland, and in addition there are 250km/155mi of cross-country trails in varying degrees of difficulty (distances between 5km/3mi and 16km/8mi; several hotels). Vuokatti is the starting-point of the popular ski run on the UKK trail to Lieska, a distance of 220km/137mi (February/March).
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Town Church, Kajaani
