Every design for Jakobstad

Jakobstad was founded by Ebba Brahe at the old harbour of the parish of Pedersöre and named after her late husband, Jacob De la Gardie, while the Finnish name, Pietarsaari, keeps the older parish name alive. Locals call it Jeppis. The town sits on a peninsula: brackish water from the Gulf of Bothnia on the west, the mouths of the Ähtävänjoki and Purmonjoki rivers and the freshwater basin of Luodonjärvi on the east. Its rocky shores and rocky islets are rare in Ostrobothnia, and to the west the sea lies open, deepening slowly.

Jacobstads Wapen takes its name from the galeas that was among the first ships to sail from the town with goods for foreign ports, once trade and shipbuilding had made Jakobstad wealthy and the largest shipbuilder in Finland. Skonaren Vega carries the maritime story on, and Jakobstads Museum and Westmansmors stuga keep the town's past close. J. L. Runeberg was born here, and the town honours him each year with Runeberginviikko.

Strengbergs Tobaksmuseum tells the story of the tobacco factory whose clock tower holds the largest clock in the Nordic countries, and if you are from Jeppis, that clock face is a fine thing to wear.