Pihlajavesi Wilderness Church
Traveller! The men of Pihlajavesi decided in the middle of the 18th century to build themselves a church and cemetary close by.
The man in charge was the well-known churchbuilder Matti Pärnä-Åkerblom, and work was begun on May Day, 1780. In a couple of years the church was ready. The windmill on the steeple bears the date 1780, an the builder´s M is on the eaves.
The building is a “long church”, shaped somewhat like a cruciform church. At the northern end of the cross is the vestry. On the western end is a three-part belfry-like tower.
Today the church is no longer in its original form. When a new church was begun in 1870, permission was gained from the diocese to tear apart the old interior for building materials. Only the walls and the roof remained.
The shell of the church stood for decades until it was restored in 1930 and returned to its place of dignity.
The lovely sanctuary, cherished by the congregation, is used during the summer. Services and other events are held here.
The Church was built in secret in the middle of a forest. Shadows of Churchgoers can be seen on the walls.
A popular wedding church.
In summer the key to the church hangs on the wall on the right side of the door.