Every design for Tohmajärvi

Tohmajärvi is known for its hilltop centre. Kemie, the village at the heart of the municipality, is built on the crown of a vaara, one of the large forested hills of North Karelia, as many settlements in the region are.

The Tohmajärvi Church stands apart from the village, at Kirkkoniemi on the northern shore of Lake Tohmajärvi, five kilometres to the south-east, so a trip to church has always meant a short journey from hill to shore. Kemie itself was first mentioned in 1618. Its name comes from the nearby hill Kemienmäki, Kemmiimmäki in the local dialect, built on an old word kemi for a hard, open meadow, and locals still say Kemmii; Selkie in Kontiolahti took its name in the same way. Highway 9 runs through the village and ties it to the rest of North Karelia, while the village itself remains the place where the municipality's daily life gathers: the shops, the services and the homes of most of its people.

The image that stays is the shape on the map: a village on top of its hill, the lake below to the south-east, and the church out on its point at Kirkkoniemi.