Every design for Muurame

Muurame is known for an early Alvar Aalto church, the first of his church designs to be completed, and for the lakes that surround it. The village sits between Lake Päijänne and Lake Muuratjärvi, joined by the short River Muurame that runs straight through the centre, and dozens of smaller lakes are scattered across the rest of the municipality. Jyväskylä, the regional capital of Central Finland, is just to the north-east.

Muuratharju, a ridge near the village, shares its root with the municipality's name: muurame is an old dialect word for the cloudberry, which also appears on the coat of arms. From Paavalinvuori the views open over the water, Joutsenlahti curves along the shore, and the Hautalahden tervaleppäkorpi protects a stretch of black alder swamp. Old forest reserves add to that, and Finland's largest spruce by volume grows in the Kuusimäki reserve on the Jyväskylä border.

If you learned to swim at the Keinolan uimaranta or walked the nature trail along the river as a child, you already know this map by heart.