Less than 100km south of Oulu, Raahe was founded in 1649 by Count Per Brahe the Younger, the Governor General of Finland, and has developed into a modern centre where Information Technology, the steel industry, and one of Finland’s busiest ports all jostle comfortably with its historical Old Town. Following a devastating fire in 1810, Raahe was rebuilt using a Renaissance-inspired rectilinear town plan which features a central square (Pekkatori Square) with closed corners. The Old Town consists of 152 dwellings and 240 rear buildings, but it is not an open-air museum, rather it is a thriving, vibrant centre around which the more modern town revolves.

Tourist attractions Raahe

Old Raahe is one of the oldest wooden towns in Finland. At its heart is Pekkatori Square, where the Lang, Fontell, Montin, Frieman, Hedmansson and Kivi-Sovio houses show the influence of neo-classicism. In Myhrberg Park you’ll see the oldest dwelling in Raahe, Sovelius House which was built in the 1780s and now acts as a museum. The ground floor is in the Art Nouveau style, with rooms for changing exhibitions, while the first floor has been restored in the form of a home for a wealthy shipowner and merchant in the 1890s. Elsewhere facing the park visitors can view the Sovio House which is owned by the town and contains Raahe’s cultural office, its banqueting hall and reception rooms, plus four conference rooms that are rented out.

Even without the delightful Old Town, Raahe has a wealth of cultural attractions to captivate visitors. The Raahe Museum holds the distinction of being the oldest museum of cultural history in Finland, founded in 1862 by Doctor Carl Robert Ehrström, and housed in the Old Customs House. The museum’s pride is ‘the Old Gentleman’, the oldest diving suit in world, made of leather and dating back to the 18th century. In the Saloinen Museum you’ll find a collection of artefacts and pictures recording the lives of local inhabitants exhibited among 18 old buildings, mostly relating the history of fishing and agriculture. The Ojala residence, built in 1800, has been a farm house, a shelter for the sick and the old, an old folks home, and is now a museum. Local craftsmen use the museum for cultural events and exhibitions in the summer. Raahe also has an Old Pharmacy museum containing one of Finland’s most valuable collections of apothecary jars, as well as equipment and instruments used in the preparation of medicines, and old pharmacy wrappings and packages.

Raahe boasts two churches designed by architect Josef Stenbäck, both completed in 1912. In the granite Church of Raahe you can view the altar piece ‘Awakening Hope’ which was painted by Eero Järnefelt in 1926, and in the Pattijoki Church the gold plated wooden altar piece, ‘Crucifixion of Christ’ is Tyrolean. In the Church of Saloinen, completed in 1932, you can view medieval pictures of saints and a Saint Cabinet from the 15th century which were rescued from the old church. The bell tower originates from 1783.

Raahe hosts a variety of different events throughout the year, starting with February’s Raahe Music Week, the very popular Jazz on the Beach festival held every July, and the Brahe Classica festival held every autumn. In April, the town comes alive to the Raahe Spring Market, and the weekend following Midsummer the locals celebrate Pekka’s Day. In October the Autumn Market is held, and there is also a Children’s Culture Week.