Every design for Siuntio

Opposite the medieval stone church of St. Peter's, the prehistoric hill fort of Skällberget still rises above the river valley, and on the summit of Krejansberget lie Bronze Age burial cairns raised by some of the first farmers here. Siuntio, Sjundeå in Swedish, has been lived in since the Stone Age. In the Middle Ages two great manors, Suitia and Sjundby, were built here; the Fleming family set up Finland's first ironworks on Suitia land, and Sjundby, still known as Sjundbyn Linna, once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden.

There is a calm to the place that the municipality has made its motto: Ota rauhallisesti – Ta det lugnt, take it easy. In the south the valley widens into broad, flat fields among the best farmland in Uusimaa, while the north breaks into steep rift valleys and small groves. Aleksis Kivi, Finland's national author, lived for years in the Fanjunkars croft, now a museum.

After the war the southern tip of Siuntio was part of the Porkkala lease area. Coming home today means the train pulling into the station, the river valley opening out and the stone church waiting where the old village once stood.