Säräisniemi Church, Vaala

The idyllic wooden cruciform church of Säräisniemi parish was built in 1781 and it has seats for 500 people.

The church was built in the village of Säräisniemi to replace the Manamansalo church, which was destroyed in the 16th century during the Russo-Swedish War, as the journey to the next nearest church, Paltaniemi, was long and crossing the Lake Oulujärvi was dangerous. Next to the church, under the protection of trees, is a cemetery with old, ornate gravestones. The graveyard also has a memorial to people of the parish who died in World War II.

The stone footings of Säräisniemi church are beautifully pleated gneiss, quarried from nearby Pirunkallio. Pirunkallio means “Devil’s Rock” in Finnish. The gneiss is one of the oldest rocks in the European Union, crystallized about 2.6 billion years ago. There is an information board of Säräisniemi village by the parking lot of the church.

Säräisniemi church is one of Rokua Geopark’s cultural attractions.