Petäjävesi is Finnish for “Pine Water”. It was built by Central Finland’s land-owning peasants in 1763-65 with the belfry and passageway connecting the two in 1821. It is completely made of unpainted pine – logs, floor (cut from the wall logs of a chapel that stood on the same spot), interior walls and pews. It has remained almost unchanged since construction.
The ceiling is a high barrel-vaulted ceiling with red/white candy stripe edging (described as imitations of the medieval egg-and-dart pattern, the only decorative element of the church).
The blue pulpit has small white carvings of Jesus, the 4 evangelists and numerous angels and is supported by St Christopher, the patron saint of all travellers and also known as “the Christ-bearer”. The paintings in the apse are of the Holy Communion, Moses and Martin Luther. The hatch in the floor leads to a wine cellar.
The wonderful three-story belfry has a blue sky and a four-pointed star ceiling that can be opened to lift the bells. The outside has a white herringbone design. Both have decorative wood shingles with the church a shingled onion dome. In it is the bench of shame (an original object) and has rooms in the corners that served as tithe room, weapons room, mortuary and stairs to access the top.
The service usually lasted 4 hours and included the local news. The 1820 seating order was introduced with numbers painted on the ends of the pews. Servants sat in the 3 balconies, women on the left and men on the right. The ‘church waker’ used a staff to wake up parishioners who had fallen asleep during the service.
The church was abandoned in 1879 when a new church was built on the opposite side of the bay, but it was not pulled down and the bells stayed in the church. It was renovated in the 1950s. It has never had heating. It was UNESCO World Heritage Site listed in 1994. The graveyard has had 9,100 buried in it since 1729 with 131 stones remaining, the oldest wood dating to 1837. The clergy and landowners’ stones are more elaborate. The plank fence resembles a 19th-century log fence.
It still holds services, weddings, christenings and concerts. Private €5, no reduction
The church is about 35 km west of Jyväskylä.
