Every design for Lieksa

Would you guess that a town deep in the forests of North Karelia was once a trading town founded by a count? Count Brahe established the town of Brahea at the mouth of the Lieksanjoki to support trade towards the White Sea, and during wartime it was guarded by a log fort with round towers at every corner and a tavern inside. It did not last: after the count's death the town was abolished, its houses pulled down and the ground ploughed into fields. Its seal still lives on in Lieksa's coat of arms.

The Pielisen museo tells what came next. The church village grew into the centre of the old parish of Pielisjärvi, the area lived off timber and Lieksa became known as a centre of lumberjacks and log drivers, as the Jätkänpatsas recalls. The Lieksan rajaperinnetalo and the Rukajärvikeskus add the border's own history, and the Lieksan kirkko stands on the site where Brahea's Lutheran church once was. Koli, Vieki and Mätäsvaara are all part of the town.

If your family once cut timber here, or you grew up on the shore of Lake Pielinen, this is your map, from the farthest town from the sea in all of Fennoscandia.