Every design for Juva

Juva lies in South Savo, north-east of Mikkeli, with Lake Jukajärvi at the edge of the municipal centre and Lake Luonteri in the south forming part of Saimaa. Founded on St Henry's Day in the fifteenth century, it is the oldest parish in Finland whose exact date of birth is known, and in its early centuries it stretched from Mikkeli as far as Iisalmi. Kuopio, Sääminki and Joroinen were all later carved out of it.

Gottlundin tupa and Juvan museo keep the parish story, and the story is a large one. Stones gathered from Juva's fields went into Olavinlinna, the castle raised on its island at Kyrönsalmi, while manors such as Askola, Inkilä, Koikkala, Loukio and Partala recall the centuries of Swedish rule. The burial ground of the medieval Remojärvi chapel is older still, and people moved through this country as early as the Stone Age.

Today Juva is farming country with a strong turn towards organic production, and its table is set with ryynimakkara, a groats sausage, and barley flatbread. On the map, find Ukonsaari and the beach on Jukajärvi, where summer in Juva begins.