Rovaniemi Attractions
Post code: SF-96200
Rovaniemi, situated at the junction of the Kemijoki, Finland's longest river (510km/320mi), with the Ounasjoki (320km/200mi), is the chief town and economic and cultural center of the Finnish province of Lapland, by far the largest of the country's provinces, with an area of over 90,000sq.km/35,000sq.mi.
There was a settlement here in the 16th century, when Swedish and Russian tax-collectors first began to appear in these northern regions. With the increase in the demand for timber following the development of industry Rovaniemi grew considerably in importance, lying as it did at the junction of two of the principal rivers down which logs could be floated from the interior of Lapland to the Baltic. The town was detached from the surrounding rural district in 1929, and in 1938 became the chief place in the Finnish province of Lapland. It received its municipal charter in 1960.
Until quite recent times Rovaniemi, like other places in the northern territories, consisted almost entirely of wooden houses. During the winter of 1944-45 over four-fifths of the town was burned down during the fighting between Finnish and German forces. After the war Alvar Aalto was given the task of rebuilding the town, and based the layout of the main streets on the pattern of a reindeer's antlers. The buildings erected since the war are almost all of stone, and some of the public buildings have provided a model for the whole of Lapland with their functional design and adaptation to the landscape.
Tourism
Rovaniemi now attracts some 400,000 visitors a year, and accordingly the service trades are of major importance to the town's economy.
Rovaniemi has anumber of notable landmarks including the Jätkänkynttilä bridge with its eternal flame, the Arktikum House and the Lappia House housing a library, concert hall and theatre.
Rovaniemi, situated at the junction of the Kemijoki, Finland's longest river (510km/320mi), with the Ounasjoki (320km/200mi), is the chief town and economic and cultural center of the Finnish province of Lapland, by far the largest of the country's provinces, with an area of over 90,000sq.km/35,000sq.mi.
There was a settlement here in the 16th century, when Swedish and Russian tax-collectors first began to appear in these northern regions. With the increase in the demand for timber following the development of industry Rovaniemi grew considerably in importance, lying as it did at the junction of two of the principal rivers down which logs could be floated from the interior of Lapland to the Baltic. The town was detached from the surrounding rural district in 1929, and in 1938 became the chief place in the Finnish province of Lapland. It received its municipal charter in 1960.
Until quite recent times Rovaniemi, like other places in the northern territories, consisted almost entirely of wooden houses. During the winter of 1944-45 over four-fifths of the town was burned down during the fighting between Finnish and German forces. After the war Alvar Aalto was given the task of rebuilding the town, and based the layout of the main streets on the pattern of a reindeer's antlers. The buildings erected since the war are almost all of stone, and some of the public buildings have provided a model for the whole of Lapland with their functional design and adaptation to the landscape.
Tourism
Rovaniemi now attracts some 400,000 visitors a year, and accordingly the service trades are of major importance to the town's economy.
Rovaniemi has anumber of notable landmarks including the Jätkänkynttilä bridge with its eternal flame, the Arktikum House and the Lappia House housing a library, concert hall and theatre.
New Bridge
In the northwest of Rovaniemi, in the gardens on the banks of the Kemijoki, can be seen a bronze statue of a bark-stripper (by Kalervo Kallio, 1939-52). The river is spanned by the 320m/350yd long New Bridge (1989), with a striking central pier to which the suspension cables are fixed. After dark the bridge is attractively illuminated.
ARKTIKUM Artic Centre Provincial Museum of Lapland
The Arktikum in Rovaniemi is a museum, science centre, cultural venue with meeting and congress facilities and a noted architectural sight in its own right. It offers unique insight into the way of life, culture and history of the North.
Rovaniemi - ARTKIKUM Arctic Centre Provincial Museum of Lapland
Pohjoisranta 4
SF-96200 Rovaniemi
Finland
Pohjoisranta 4
SF-96200 Rovaniemi
Finland
Hours
January 12 to May 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
June 1 to June 15
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
June 16 to August 15
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 |
August 16 to August 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
September 1 to September 30
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
October 1 to November 30
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 |
December 1 to January 11
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
Always closed on:
Christmas Eve - Christian (December 24)
Guides
Guided tour available as optional extra.
Facilities
Gift shop
Restaurant or food service
Restaurant or food service
Arctic Circle
8km/5mi north of Rovaniemi the road to Kemijärvi crosses the Arctic Circle (Finnish Napapiiri:). Here there are a regular shopping center (souvenirs), a "Children's Land" and a post office (special postmark). Here too visitors can obtain a certificate to prove that they have crossed the Arctic Circle. Nearby is the SOS Children's Village, "Lapland", opened in 1979.
Facilities
Gift shop
Events
Reindeer-sleigh races (February); Snow Week, with an ice sculpture competition (March); Ounasvaara Winter Games (March 24 and 25); Midnight Sun Festival on Mt Ounasvaara (June 23); Arctic Yacht Race on Lake Iso Vietonen, 50km/30mi west of Rovaniemi (June); Ars Arctica exhibition (end of June to end of July); All Saints Ice Regatta on the Vikajärvi (November).
Jutajaiset Folklore Festival
This is a festival of song, music and dance dedicated to the north and the wilderness. The Jutajaiset Folklore Festival take place in mid-June and are meant to celebrate the Lapland wanderer.
Lappia Hall
At Hallituskatu 11 in Rovaniemi is the Lappia Hall (by Alvar Aalto, 1975), which serves as a theater, concert hall and conference center. Housed in the same building is the Lapland Provincial Museum (culture of the Sami and the gypsies).
Next door (No. 9) the Municipal Library, also by Alvar Aalto (1965), has a room for exhibitions.
Next door (No. 9) the Municipal Library, also by Alvar Aalto (1965), has a room for exhibitions.
Lutheran Church
To the south of the Provincial Government Offices in Rovaniemi, beyond the railroad, stands the Lutheran church (by Bertel Liljequist, 1950), with an altar fresco by Lennart Segerstråhle, "The Source of Life". To the left of the entrance a stone marks the site of the earlier church (1817-1944). Adjoining the church is the churchyard, with a large memorial to the Finnish soldiers who fell in the Second World War. Opposite the church is a monument to the Finnish freedom fighters of 1918.
Hours
June 1 to August 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 21:00 | 21:00 | 21:00 | 21:00 | 21:00 | 21:00 | 21:00 |
September 1 to May 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 |
Guides
Guided tour available as optional extra.
Orthodox Church
On the east side of the Ounaskoski rapids in Rovaniemi is the Orthodox church (by Toivo Paatela and Ilmari Ahonen, 1957), with valuable icons from Valamo monastery (now in Russia).
Ounasvaara
Southeast of Rovaniemi, on the left bank of the Kemijoki, rises the hill of Ounasvaara (204m/670ft), with a cafe, a hotel, a winter sports center (large ski-jump) and a skiing hut. From the top of the hill the midnight sun is visible from June 18 to 28.
Facilities
On-site accomodations
Restaurant or food service
Restaurant or food service
Pohtimolampi Sports Center
30km/19mi southwest of Rovaniemi on the Aavasaksa road lies the tourist and sports center of Pohtimolampi, with a ski-lift and a reindeer-driving school for tourists.
Pöykkölä Heritage Museum (formerly Ethnographic Museum, Lapland Forest Museum)
4km/2.5mi south of the center of Rovaniemi, on the Kemijoki, are the Pöykkölä Heritage Museum (peasant houses, furnishings and equipment) and the Lapland Forest Museum, which illustrates the life of the timber-workers immortalized in the sculpture of Kallervo Kallio.
Rovaniemi Art Museum
The Rovaniemi Art Museum contains a collection of modern Finnish art. Annually the museum introduces works from artists who work in Lapland or were born there.
Rovaniemi Art Museum
Lapinkävijäntie 4
SF-96100 Rovaniemi
Finland
Lapinkävijäntie 4
SF-96100 Rovaniemi
Finland
Hours
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | Closed | 12:00 | 12:00 | 12:00 | 12:00 | 12:00 | 12:00 |
| Close | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 |
Discounts on
Saturday
Santa Claus' Village
Santa Claus' Village in Rovaniemi is located on the Arctic Circle. The permanent exhibits feature Finnish Christmas traditions, Christmas Traditions from around the World, and the Elves' Toy Factory. Other highlights include Santa Claus' Office and Santa Claus' Main Post Office.
Santa Claus' Village
Napapiirin lahja Oy
Arctic Circle
SF-96930 Rovaniemi
Finland
Napapiirin lahja Oy
Arctic Circle
SF-96930 Rovaniemi
Finland
Hours
January 1 to May 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 |
June 1 to June 30
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
July 1 to July 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 |
August 1 to August 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 | 18:00 |
September 1 to November 30
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 | 10:00 |
| Close | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 | 17:00 |
December 1 to December 31
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Open | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 | 9:00 |
| Close | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 | 19:00 |
Town
Although the main part of Rovaniemi lies on the left bank of the Ounasjoki (or the Ounaskoski rapids), there are a number of public buildings and sports facilities on the right bank. Within the area of the town there are numerous peninsulas and inlets. The river is spanned by two bridges. In the southeast of the town, near the large two-level road and rail bridge, are the Provincial Government Offices.