A masterpiece of the northern carpenter's craftPetäjävesi Old Church is a wooden church built in 1763–1764 in the village of Petäjävesi, in Central Finland. Remarkably well preserved in both its exterior and interior, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994 as an outstanding example of the eastern Scandinavian tradition of wooden church architecture. Built by a village masterThe church was designed and built by the local peasant master builder Jaakko Klemetinpoika Leppänen. He gave it a symmetrical cruciform plan, each arm about 17 metres long, using traditional horizontal log construction with a shingled roof. A separate bell tower was added in 1821 by his grandson, Erkki Leppänen, and joined to the west end by a short passage. Renaissance idea, Gothic form, vernacular woodThe building unites a Renaissance notion of the centralised church with older Gothic forms, all executed with folk timber-building methods. Beneath its steep hipped roof, a boarded vaulted ceiling rises to an octagonal cupola, decorated with red-ochre paintings. Hand-hewn log walls and the slightly irregular set of the floor planks and pews give the interior an atmosphere found nowhere else. From abandonment to World HeritageThe church fell out of regular use in 1879, when the parish completed a new church, and stood neglected for decades. Its architectural value was first recognised in the 1920s by the Austrian art historian Josef Strzygowski, and restoration has continued since 1929. Today it is a popular wedding church, with services held on summer Sundays. Location: Petäjävesi, Central FinlandBuilt: 1763–1764; bell tower 1821Builder: Jaakko Klemetinpoika Leppänen (log construction, cruciform plan)Status: UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1994Visiting: Summer services and weddings; open to visitors in season
