The nice evening on the Cultural Trail of the old Ähtäri City Centre

Great, The cultural trail of the old Ähtäri City Centre has come true!

Last year I heard about this project 

and now 

It is ready and really well done!

Let´s go!

First to the library and cinema Pirkanlinna.
Address is Lukiontie 1, Ähtäri.

From the brand-new mailbox
you can take the map of the trail.

The map is quite small,
so it´s better to have glasses with you
if your age is 40+

Through the school (Yhteiskoulu) yard 

it´s easy to go to the Trenches 

and Pirkanpohja Art Centre.

At the railway station of Ähtäri you can have a cup of coffee.
In my opinion this is the most beautiful building in Ähtäri.
It looks like the railway station of Oulu.
Surprise! I was born in Oulu.

After the heavy ascent of the road Koulutie
you will see the long road Puistotie.
Local people call it Pamppukuja
that means Baton alley,
because there were living two policemen.
Most of the houses on Puistotie are so called veteran houses 
that were built after the Second World War (1939-1945).

 Now we are in the beginning of the old centre of Ähtäri near the church.

The Winter War Memorial

The youngest one of our company has a lot of energy.
Maybe it´s a cultural shock!
Luckily I have something to eat with me
and his godmother is good entertainer,
so we can go on.

The Church Road 

Now we start to walk along the road Alkulantie, 

the main road in the end of 1800s.

This district is classified nationally as
an area of significant built cultural heritage. 

No wonder...

Ollinkulma (from year 1865)
First it was the house of the town doctor,
later a nursery school,
today it´s the home of one local family.

In the building Alkula
there have been
the bank, the pharmacy and the city post office.

The nice old  sign

The House of the Sea Captain Tötterman from the1920s

Mimmilä
A  hundred years ago there was a bank in this building,
later an elementary school and
a hall of residency for girls in vocational school. 

Kuntala (from 1870s)
This is built for holding town meetings.
After that there was the library.
Later also a shop and
a child health clinic and a maternity clinic.

The cat is wondering what we are doing here...

The Old Sacristy

The Civil War Memorial
in the Little Old Graveyard

The magnificent Apothecary´s House on the left
and the Granary on the right.

The graves of soldiers (from Ähtäri)
who died
in the Winter War (1939-1940) and the Continuation War (1941-1944).

It has been interesting to go to church one hundred years ago.
They came by church boats and by foot.
Even 3o kilometers.
Nice way to meet people and tittle-tattle.

The Church Boat (from 1875) is very beautiful.

The Chapel (1963) is designed by architect Touko Saari.

The Church of Ähtäri

This church (1937) is the fourth in order.
 The third church was burned down
because of  lightning stroke in 1935.

This Summer Evening has been so beautiful
as well as our home town Ähtäri. 

After this shower of culture
it´s time for children to take a real shower and listen bedtime stories. 

I am very thrilled about this cultural trail!

Thank you very much for the workgroup!