Every design for Lapinlahti

Art is what Lapinlahti is known for. The Halonen family of artists came from here, so the municipality made art its theme, and dozens of works are scattered around the church village. Finland's first art foundry worked in Lapinlahti, casting among others the Three Smiths statue and the equestrian statue of Marshal Mannerheim, and two foundries carry on the tradition today. The parish also gave the Awakening movement its leader, Paavo Ruotsalainen, whose values of honesty, hard work and literacy left their mark on local life.

Lapinlahti lies in the middle of North Savo, north of Kuopio and south of Iisalmi. Lake Onkivesi runs through it almost from end to end, with the centre on its eastern shore beside the railway and the main road, and the tall hill of Väisälänmäki, a national landscape, rising on the other side. After the Second World War, evacuees from Salmi and Suistamo settled here, and the Orthodox church of Kaikkien Pyhien kirkko stands in the centre to this day.

Come back by the lake road, past Höyryveturi Tv1, the old steam locomotive, and the Sankaripatsas, and Lapinlahti closes round you like a familiar room.