Pieksämäki is a well-connected town in the middle of Finland's beautiful lake district. It hosts a wide range of events and services for enjoyable and relaxing holiday.
The Pieksämäki area is full of lakes – it is said that there are as many as 417 – and there is a large number of rental cottages on the shores of these lakes. The town is easily accessible by train from all over Finland and it is about three hours' drive from Helsinki Airport.
Pieksämäki is a great place to arrange events for various groups. The facilities are superb for a variety of sports, offering locations for arranging training camps and competitions, as well as other hobbyist meetings ranging from car events to large dog shows.
If you are interested in cars, you should visit Pieksämäki in July when the Big Wheels car event packs out the shores of Lake Pieksäjärvi with gleaming chrome and handsome vehicles. The Savo Vintage fair at Cultural Centre Poleeni displays clothing from times past.
Pieksämäki's natural environment is highly diverse, offering superb terrain for physical activities and outdoor hobbies. The region is well-known for its extensive drumlin areas and lakes. And when you're feeling active, you can go fishing, canoeing, rambling, cycling, swimming or even birdwatching – whatever you feel like doing!
Don't forget to take a look at the town's most important buildings: the wooden church designed by A. Sorsa and built in 1753, the water tower designed by Aarne Ervi in 1956, Culture Centre Poleeni, the town hall and the old town hall from 1918.
The following attractions in the area are also worth a look:
Moisio Mansion is a manor house built in the empire style in 1820, with beautiful ballrooms full of art. The owners of the mansion, Seija and Pentti Hasu, have built up their art collection over more than 40 years and put the works in the mansion, including important pieces by sculptor Wäinö Aaltonen. The permanent exhibition also includes works by Finnish master sculptors Johannes Takanen, Ville Vallgren and Jussi Mäntynen, as well as paintings by Berndt Lindholm and Ester Helenius.
Visit Cultural Centre Poleeni to enjoy concerts, exhibitions and theatre performances. In the summer, there are also several outdoor theatres. The Savo Railway Museum is located in the old station, which was built in 1889. The museum tells the story of the life and work of past generations on the railways.
And the large clergy house, built in the Swedish neoclassical style with a mansard roof, is a rare example of its type, representing elegant clergy house architecture in Finland. Of the extensive range of clergy buildings, the tax building, shed and milk room are well-preserved. Pappilanmäki (literally the "clergy house hill") is said to be the birthplace of Pieksämäki and Sylvi Kekkonen, an author who was married to long-serving Finnish president Urho Kekkonen.
One highlight of a trip to Pieksämäki is the uniquely handsome glacial erratic boulder known as Linnakivi, located along the Mataramäentie road. It is said to be the second largest rock in Finland.
The fairly well-preserved Pieksämäki church area, encompassing churches, mansions and clergy houses, is highly representative of the period before land ownership was liberalised. Book your holiday in Pieksämäki now!
