Every design for Kajaani

Kajaani Castle has lain in ruins since Russian forces blew it up during the Great Northern War, and its broken walls are still part of the townscape in Kainuu's capital. Kajana in Swedish, the town was founded by Per Brahe as the centre of his barony, at a time when the pine forests of Kainuu produced tar and the tar trade drove the region. Elias Lönnrot later arrived as district physician, fighting epidemics while he gathered the poems that became the Kalevala, and the poet Eino Leino and President Urho Kekkonen both belong to the town's story; Urho Kekkosen muistomerkki - Suuri aika honours the latter.

Kajaani lies south-east of Lake Oulu on the Kajaaninjoki river, where the hill country of Kainuu meets the Suomenselkä watershed. A long ridge runs through the town, coming from North Karelia by way of Vuokatti and continuing towards Manamansalo. The paper mill that employed the town for a century has closed, and its site now houses LUMI, one of the fastest supercomputers in the European Union. Kainuun Museo keeps the wider story of the region.

Bombing in the Second World War destroyed much of the old centre, and the town rebuilt itself afterwards. For everyone who left for Oulu or further afield, crossing the Kajaaninjoki again still feels like coming home.