Kerimaki Church

The church at Kerimaki was completed in 1847 and is generally described as the largest wooden church in the world: a cruciform building with a dome, galleries on two levels and seating for around three thousand people, in a parish that never came close to needing it. The often-repeated explanation, that the plans were misread and the dimensions built in feet as metres, is a good story and almost certainly not true; the parish appears to have wanted a very large church and got one. The interior is pale, plain and enormous, lit by two tiers of windows. It is unheated, so it is used in summer and a smaller winter church stands beside it.

What you actually see

• A wooden church seating three thousand - built for a parish that never filled it.
• Two tiers of galleries - the interior arrangement under the dome.
• Pale unpainted timber - the plain interior at full height.
• The winter church beside it - the heated building used out of season.

When to go

June to August, when the church is open and in use; it is unheated and shut for most of the rest of the year. One hour. Services take precedence.

Honest expectations

It is closed for much of the year because it cannot be heated. The interior is plain and the visit is short. The story about a measuring error is repeated everywhere and is not supported. The village has little else.

Nearby

Savonlinna is east; Punkaharju lies south.