Kajaani is the most populous town and the capital of the Kainuu Region of Finland. It is located southeast of Lake Oulu (Oulujärvi), which drains into the Gulf of Bothnia through the Oulu River (Oulujoki).

The town was founded in the 17th century, fuelled by the growth of the tar industry, but it was preceded by a long history of settlements. During the Great Northern War it succumbed to Russian forces, who ruined Kajaani Castle in 1716. Today, the local economy is mainly driven by the sawmill, lumber, and paper industries, although UPM Kymmene’s paper mill, the main employer from 1907 until 2008, has since closed. Kajaani’s church was built in 1896 in the Neo-Gothic style by the architect Jac Ahrenberg to replace an earlier church. Kajaani’s town theatre was established in 1969.

Kajaani is home to two football clubs, AC Kajaani and Kajaanin Haka, and the ice hockey team Hokki. The Kajaani University of Applied Sciences was established in 1992.

Landmarks

Kajaani Castle, located on an island on the Kajaani river in the centre of the city, was originally built in 1604 and was commissioned by Charles IX of Sweden. The castle served as an administrative centre, prison, military base and a refuge for the citizens. 

The Town Hall of Kajaani, on the main square, Raatihuoneentori, was built to the design of Carl Engel in 1831 with a central rooftop clocktower and turret. It underwent restoration in 1990 when it was painted in a “fetching yellow ochre” color.

Kajaani Church was built in 1896 in the Neo-Gothic style by architect Jac Ahrenberg. It replaced an earlier church on the spot which was originally built in 1656 and destroyed by the Russians in 1716 at the time when Kajaani castle was destroyed. The second church was built 1734-35 which served the parish for 160 years until replaced with Ahrenberg’s new church. The church, built from wood, has three naves and features a delicate, slender bell tower. 

There is a mosque in the town, which is the center of the regional Kainuu Islamic community, which in 2013 had 174 members.

Eino Leno House, containing a cafe, was built in 1978 to commemorate famous poet Eino Leino, a native of the town. Keisarintalli, a wooden stable, was used as a boarding house for Tsar Alexander I of Russia during his tour of Finland in 1819. Also of note is the Urho Kekkonen Memorial, dedicated to the eighth Finnish president, Urho Kekkonen. The 8 metres (26 ft) high monument was carved by sculptor Pekka Kauhanen and was unveiled on 3 September 1990, exactly 90 years after Kekkonen’s birth.

Culture

The Kajaani Town Theatre, established in 1969, puts on plays and concerts, typically seen by around 200 people. 

The Art Museum of Kajaani (Kajaanin taidemuseo), located in a building that was a police station, which is connected to Kajaani’s former city hall was founded in 1993 and centers on Finnish modern art. Kainuu Museum (Kainuun Museo) displays information related to the tar industry, the Kalevala (the national epic of Finland) and author Elias Lönnrot and others on the ground floor, and regularly hosts temporary exhibitions upstairs.

The most notable annual cultural events in Kajaani are Kajaanin Runoviikko (The Kajaani Poetry Week), originally known as Sana ja Sävel, and Kainuun JazzKevät (The Kainuu Jazz Spring). Kajaani Orchestra began in the 1950s, and was expanded when the Kuopio garrison band moved to Kajaani in 1963.

Radio Kajaus, one of Finland’s oldest local radios, began operations in Kajaani in 1989, and remains one of the few completely independent radio stations in Finland. Kainuu Radio, which belongs to the Yle, broadcasts Monday to Friday from 6.30 to 17.00.

Education

The town is served by the Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, a small university of applied sciences which was established in 1992. It provides courses in Activity Tourism, Information Systems, Nursing and Healthcare, Mechanical and Mining Engineering and Business and Innovations, and offers 8 Bachelor’s degree programmes and 5 Master programmes delivered in Finnish. The Research Center for Developmental Teaching and Learning at Kajaani University Consortium is associated with the University of Oulu. There is also a polytechnical institute in Kajaani, which had an enrollment of 653 students in the mid 1990s. The 500 PetaFLOP Large Unified Modern Infrastructure supercomputer is being constructed to service 10 European countries.

The government-run Kainuu Music Institute was founded in 1957, and is part of the Kaukametsä Congress and Culture Centre. It is one of the largest musical institutes in Finland, with an enrollment of about 900 from the wider Kainuu region. Kainuu Music dance department Ballet Kaukametsä teaches dance to dancers of different ages. The public library of Kajaani is situated on Kauppakatu street and has free Internet access, and there is also a mobile library service.

Economy

Today the local economy is driven by mainly the sawmill, lumber and paper industries. Kajaani paper mill, established in 1907 by Kajaani Oy (ex Kajaanin Puutavara Osakeyhtio), was the largest private employer in Kajaani.

In the early 1970s an electronics manufacturing plant was built in Kajaani, and the firm Kajaani Automation was established in 1980. As of 1999 the peat industry in Kajaani earned FIM 0.5 million annually. Some 222 hectares is allocated to peat production, with private firm Vapo Oy contracted to exploit it and deliver peat to the power plant.

According to 1999 figures, Kajaani earns FIM 3 million a year by selling forestry products, and also receives a sizable income from tourist-related activities from its forests. Fishing also contributes to the income of people in the town. 

Kajaani has three main hotels, the 191-room Scandic Kajanus Kajaani, Hotel Kajaani and Original Sokos Hotel Valjus, although the Karolineburg Manor House now also functions as a hotel with 20 rooms. The Sirius restaurant, cited as the best restaurant in the town, serves Finnish cuisine, and is housed in a former government building which hosted conferences between Leonid Brezhnev and Urho Kekkonen. Also of note is the Chinese restaurant Golden Dragon, the Torero which serves Spanish cuisine, Hospoda Kourna and Pikantti. The Central Hospital of Kainuu, which serves the wider region, is situated in Kajaani. Opened in 1968, it has a number of specialist medical departments andworks in cooperation with the Oulu University Hospital. The town also has an eye clinic.