Landscape villages

Experience the nationally valuable landscape areas, or landscape villages, of which there are four in Nurmes; Rasimäki, Ylä-Valtimo, Karhunpää and Ylikylä. Cycle or drive through the Landscape Villages and enjoy the rural scenery. Read more about Nationally Valuable Landscape Areas in North Karelia.

Rasimäki River Valley Village

Rasimäki River Valley Village is located in a valley with the meandering Rumojoki River flowing through it. The landscape is characterised by rolling hillside fields flanked by rocky hills.

Rasimäki village was settled after the Second World War by Karelians who moved from Suojärvi and cleared the slopes of the village into fields and built their own homes around the fields. In all, 46 farms were established in the village in 1948. Stone Age settlements have been found near the village and the old village of Rasimäki, which was formed from a crown gate in the 19th century, was located on the surrounding dunes. In the area there is a tsasouna dedicated to the memory of John the Baptist, dating from 1961, with a memorial stone in the courtyard dedicated to the village clearers.

An apple orchard has been established on Rasimäki by voluntary work, and a fireplace called Tulehmo, which resembles a Karelian house, has been built.

Ylä-Valtimon farmlands

The Upper Valtimo Farmlands are located on the shores of Lake Valtimo, surrounded by a landscape of dunes. The village landscape is surrounded by high dunes, one of the most rugged of which is Pertunvaara, an almost 100-metre-high dune with a carbonate formation on its slope.

Upper Valtimo has one traditional biotope of provincial value, consisting of a forest pasture, a coastal meadow and a wooded area.

The agricultural landscape of Upper Valtimo is characterised by rolling hills on the edges of the valley of the farmland and lake, the water basin formed by Lake Upper Valtimo and Lake Kalliojärvi and the open, continuous field and pasture area.

The agricultural landscape of Ylikylä

The agricultural landscape of Ylikylä is formed by the valley floor of a hilly dune landscape, where settlements have developed on the top of the ridge. In the village, rocky dunes rise 40-50 m above the lakes. The hamlet dates from the early 17th century, but the area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. The village was originally a fishing village, with agriculture based on the Cossack economy. Road access to the village was built in the late 19th century, before which the village was reached by boat.

The village has many buildings dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries, including a shop, school, clubhouse and dairy. A few barns, sheds, paddocks and dairy barns can also be seen in the village landscape.

Karhunpää coastal village

The village landscape of Karhunpää has developed around the water body formed by the Karhujoki, Karhujärvi and Valtimonjoki rivers. Around the Pitkäniemi-Siikasärkkä ridge there are ponds separated from the waterway, some of which have formed in funnel depressions created by the Ice Age. Karhunpää has a number of fixed relics, some of which are Stone Age settlements near the ridge formation. A permanent settlement was established in Karhunpää in the 1620s, and the shores of the area were permanently settled in the late 1700s.

Stop for lunch and shopping at Laitalan Lomat while you’re there!