"Kajaani - A historical place" a Kajaani Travel Page by gubbi1

Throughout history Kajaani has been an important place for Finland. Several sights here keep the knowledge about this for the visitors coming here. Founded in 1651 by Per Braahe Kajaani later was participating in the trade with tar, which was transported through Kajaani over the Oulujärvi and Oulujoki to the city of Oulu. From there it was shipped to all the big sea nations as it was used to make the wooden boats resistant against the sea water.

After parking my car my visit started with the beautiful church, whose tower can be seen when coming to downtown. Unfortunately for me there was a mess hold inside, so it was not possible to have a look inside. Nevertheless even the outside is a really beautiful sight. From the church I made my way to the central place in town, where the old wooden city hall is located and which is a good starting point to discover the other interesting sights.

Follow the road to which the front of the old city hall is facing to. After just a few meters there will be a small park on your left, stretching down to the river. On the upper side you will find the monument in honor of Elias Lönnrot. He was working as district medical officier in Kajaani, but got famous for his effort to collect Folk traditions and sayings of which he set up the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. The monument was the first one set up in Kajaani. Its construction started for the 100th birthday of Lönnrot, but the finalization was done in 1942.
Just few meters further along the upper side of the path there is a restaurant in a historic building, the Villa Koskikara. During the war in 1939-1940 the Kajaani Paper Company was damaged. The management decided to build a residence for the director, which became the Villa Koskikara. On the front of the building you can see a glass relief, which was designed in 1945. Visitors here have been Urho kekkonen and Leonid Brezhnev before the house got abandoned and reused as restaurant in the 1990s.

Now following down the park or road you will reach a foot bridge leading to the ruins of the castle Kajaaninlinna. It has been an important location in the conflict between Russia and Sweden. In custody here Johannes Messenius wrote his most important piece 'Scondia illustrata', which investigated stories and documents to give a better picture about history. Several chronicles he wrote, made him to be the first Finnish historian.

Crossing the bridge you will reach the tar channel. Due to Kajaanis position much tar from the east had to pass Kajaani to be transfered to the main tar port in Oulu.
Very interesting at this location is the monument for the 'Finnish Jaeger Troops', light elite infantry. During the first world war, these troops were trained by German military to weaken the influence of Russia. For the soldiers Kajaani was an important stop and meeting point on the route towards Germany. About 250 Jaeger were estimated to have passed Kajaani.