Place in Enontekiö, Finland
Photo: Nicolas Höpfner, Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Karesuvanto (Sámi: Gárasavvon, Swedish: Karesuando) is a village in Enontekiö in Finnish Lapland. This is the northernmost border crossing from Sweden by car. Tarvantovaara Wilderness Area is nearby.
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Markkinan kirkonpaikka
Former market and church site. Markkina village was the hub of the local trade and religion for at least 200 years. Even the Sami name of the village, Boaresmárkan, means 'old marketplace'. The church was located on the hill from the 1600s until it was dismantled in 1826, as the parish had been split between Sweden and the Russian Empire. The logs were rafted to Palojoensuu where a new church was built. (Now there is just a grave yard left in Palojoensuu.) The old church site in Markkina is included to the list of nationally significant built cultural environments.
Järämän linnoitusalue
Järämä fortification camp, known as Sturmbock-Stellung to the Germans: partly restored massive German fortification partly dug into the bedrock, part of Operation Birke during the Lapland War, to secure access to the Petsamo nickel, protect the harbours of the Arctic Ocean and protect an evacuation route, it was part of a larger network of fortification camps. No real battles were ever fought here. Museum and café. In the Järämä recreational forest, with the last pine wood en route to Kilpisjärvi (the last lonely pine is at Luspi, 2.5 km farther).
Varying nature, with pine woods in the south, fell birch in much of the area, many wetlands, and fells and fell heath in the north. This was where Yrjö Kokko at last found nesting whooper swans, a book about which lead to the protection of the whooper swan in the 1950s (and probably had part in it getting elected national bird of Finland in 1981). If you are lucky you can spot golden eagle and gyrfalcon as well as broad-billed sandpiper, and also lynx and wolverine. Many other birds nest in the area, which is great quiet wilderness.
Cottage by the river, 4 persons, own linen. Wood-fired sauna. Swimming in the river. Outhouse, no running water. Electricity. The family business has another, more expensive, cottage upstream without road connection. Fishing trips. Boats for rent.
ex Rajabaari
Fuel station with a grocery store, a restaurant and lodging. Lunch 11:00–15:00. Some pharmacy services. Matkahuolto. Also accommodation.
The village is 65 km from Hetta, 109 km from Kilpisjärvi, 180 km from Kiruna, 186 from Pajala, and 271 km from Tromsø.
Read in the guideThe village(s) are quite small, so manageable by foot unless you are in a hurry (and you should not be that up here), but a bike or car is still useful, especially for sighs outside the villages.
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Enontekio · Regional · ENF
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