Kokemäki is a town and municipality in the Satakunta Region of Finland. The town has a population of 7,016 and covers an area of 531.27 square kilometres (205.12 sq mi) of which 50.04 km2 (19.32 sq mi) is water. The population density is 14.58 inhabitants per square kilometre (37.8/sq mi).
The Kolsi hydro-electric power plant is located at Kokemäki. Kokemäki River has long been an important waterway, well known for its salmon, whitefish and lamprey.
Finland is constitutionally bi-lingual with a Swedish speaking minority. The municipality is unilingual with the vast majority of the population speaking Finnish. Many, mostly younger, residents are able to understand or speak some English.
Sights
The historic St. Henry’s Hall is located in the city center. Inside the chapel, designed by architect Pehr Johan Gylich , is an apartment where Bishop Henrik said he spent his last night before Lalli killed him on the ice of Lake Köyliönjärvi.
Kokemäki has the stone church of Gustav III , which has stood on a rocky hill in the center of Kokemäki for more than 200 years. The first sketches of the church were drawn by J. Sytti and supplemented by CF Adercrantz. The natural stone church was built in 1780–1786.
Puurijärvi and Isosuo National Park was established in 1993. The 27 km² national park consists of Puurijärvi , known as a bird lake, and five cream oasis swamps; Aron, Iso, Kiettareen, Korkea and Ronkansuo. In 1993, more than 30 species were washed in the lake, bringing the total number to more than 1,500 pairs.
Other places worth visiting:
- Station Manager’s Home
- Anttila Garden Farm / farm shop
- Karimaa garden
- Kokemäki Agricultural Museum
- Kokemäki Society House
- Kokemäki Electricity Museum
- Kokemäki Open Air Museum
- Käräjämäki
- Seamstress’s museum home
- The rocks of the slave boat
- The sacristy of St. Mary’s Church
- Säpilä suspension bridge
- Villa Cuma to the city of Kokemäki cultural route
VISITOR important services
- Kokemäki travel agency
Education
The primary school network in the city of Kokemäki has shrunk in recent years with the closure of schools providing basic education for grades 1 to 6. The rest are Lähteenmäki School, Tulkkila School and Tuomaala School. The buildings of Kokemäki Co-educational School include upper secondary classes 6 – 9, special education, Kokemäki High School and its adult line, and Kokemäki Citizens’ College.
Vocational training is provided by two associations of secondary vocational education municipalities. The teaching facilities of the Satemunta Education Group, or SATAEDU’s Kokemäki unit, are located in Peipohja . Sasky’s SASKY facilities are located north of Tulkkila in Kuoppala and the Karimaa Garden , an educational garden acquired for the college, is located in Paistila.
Courses organized by the university and offered by the Summer University of Western Finland and the Open University can be studied in Kokemäki. The Huittinen Music College branch also operates in Tulkkila. The interpreter has an office at the Finnish Transport College.
The Räisälä Folk High School, which previously operated in Peipohja, has now been closed down.
History
It is believed that the Iron Age town of Teljä was located next to the Kokemäenjoki river at Kokemäki. The oldest stone carving yet found in Finland, dated at 8,000 to 9,000 years old, was discovered in nearby Huittinen in 1903. The 10 cm elk’s head is in a permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Finland in the capital, Helsinki. Archeological finds from in and around Kokemäki have been dated to the Middle Ages.
Kokemäki is thought to have been founded in the 12th century, maybe even earlier.
The legend states that in 1156 Bishop Henry of Uppsala visited Satakunta on a preaching tour as a part of Eric IX of Sweden’s first crusade to Finland. St. Henry’s Chapel is a neogothic style brick chapel one kilometre east of the town centre of Kokemäki. The chapel was built in 1857 on the site of a medieval wooden granary which was used by Bishop Henry. It is possible that the original building dates back to between the 12th and 15th century, making it the oldest remaining wooden building in Finland.
