Introduction  Contents  July 4  July 10  July 14  July 18  July 22  July 26  Appendices  About 

talvi > finland > jaunt > Node7

July 9: the attractions of Savonlinna

Not content with being our hosts, Anni and Suvi were our tour guides as well. We started with Kerimäki, a small town containing the world's largest wooden church, with a belltower packed with bizarre religously-inspired works of art.

Next was Retretti, an art centre mostly situated in a system of natural underground caverns. The underground part was given over to strange modern art installations, which benefited greatly from the unusual setting. Above ground was an extensive exhibition by the von Wright brothers, famous nineteenth-century painters. They produced a lot of landscapes and a truly astonishing number of bird paintings, all of which seemed to be on display.

Finally we went in to Savonlinna, a pleasant, lively city surrounded almost entirely by water⁸, where Suvi and Anni busked while the rest of use did touristy things. The main attraction in Savonlinna is Olavinlinna castle, built as a border fortification in 1475 when Finland was part of the Swedish empire. After centuries of being faught over by Swedes and Russians, Olavinlinna is now chiefly known for the annual international opera festival held in its main courtyard. Tickets for this were unfortunately a little outside our budget, so we went back home for a quiet evening of swimming and playing cards.

Footnotes

... water⁸

About 10% of Finland's land area is covered by water, and most of it, unsurprisingly, is in the lakeland. In some areas it's nearer 50%, and it can be difficult to decide whether a map depicts a heavily water-covered region of land, or a heavily island-dotted archipelago.