Showing 1-6 of 6 results
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Halkokari
Beyond Neristan, the Suntti stream continues down to the harbour. There is a beach here, Halkokari, where a British attack was repelled during the Crimean war. One of the gunboats was captured, and can be seen in the 'English Park' on the river just north of Neristan. The event is commemorated in the town's festival in early June, when people dress-up 1854-style, and there's a theatrical re-enactment.
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Historiallinen Museo
The Historiallinen Museo consists of two proud old wooden buildings; the old school dates from 1696, making it one of the oldest secular buildings in situ in the country.
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Luontokokoelma Kieppi
The Luontokokoelma Kieppi is not very compelling, with a collection of stuffed animals, antlers and traps.
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Mineraalikokoelma
On Pitkänsillankatu in the centre of town are a number of museums. The best of them is the Mineraalikokoelma. While it may not sound thrilling, it's an amazing assembly of natural beauty. The resident geologist will enthusiastically talk you through the exhibits, which include stunning geometrical figures, delicate crystals and fragments of meteorites.
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Neristan
This delightful area of wooden houses known as Neristan is what remains of the working class area of Kokkola (Neristan means 'lower town') where the sailors and fishermen lived. Until relatively recently, the river was wide and navigable up to here, and fishing boats docked to unload their finny cargo and sell it in the kauppatori.
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Taidemuseo
The Taidemuseo is in a large 19th-century merchants' mansion. It contains the collection of the portly Karl Herman Renlund (1850-1908), a shopworker who made good and left his art collection for the benefit of 'students and the working class'. He tipped the scales at 160kg when he died, but his collection is less heavyweight, although a Victor Westerholm canvas depicting the savage beauty of the Voikkaa rapids is memorable.
Showing 1-6 of 6 results
