Every design for Juuka

The name Juuka describes the place itself: a small lake with a river running through it. It fits a North Karelian municipality where a fifth of the map is water, and where Pielinen and Höytiäinen, two of the region's great lakes, both reach the shore.

People who grew up here tend to remember the nature first: the ridge of Juuanharju, the climb up Tahkovaara, the marshes and pools of Kuohusuot, and Porttilouhi, the canyon at Pohjois-Vuokko. Paalasmaa's archipelago on Pielinen means boats and fishing all summer, and the UKK trail passes partly through the municipality. Juuka is officially an island municipality, and its wooden old quarter, Puu-Juuka, has kept its streets because the village grew elsewhere after the war. Soapstone from the Nunnanlahti quarries made the name known well beyond Karelia, and Eino Kettunen, who is best remembered for Ievan Polkka, came from here.

Myllymuseo, Retulahti and the long view across Pielinen are the kind of things that pull people back. Arrive along the lakeshore road, see the old wooden houses again, and you know you are home.