Karelianism

The Ice ages have made the mountains smooth, but the hardest stone has been left there as if it was a knot in a worn out wooden bench.

Karelianism

The oldest archeological finding in the area is a stoneaxe, which was used in the old times, but has vanished during the past years. Koli is situated by the lake Pielinen, which has already in the past been an important traderoute for travellers.

Karelianism

They started to market the nature of Koli for tourists over a hundred years ago.

Karelianism

A good example of this is a scenic path hiking trail that was inaugurated and first used by Finnish Travelling association, Suomen Matkailuyhdistys on the 12th of June in 1896.

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I am Jean Sibelius, a composer. I came here with my wife Aino by boat to Pielisjärvi to celebrate our honeymoon.

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I had my piano brought here so that I could compose. There are new melodies and compositions in my head all the time and with the help of a piano I can get them on paper.

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Sibelius wrote when he was at home: At Koli! One of my life’s biggest experiences.

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Eero Järnefel came to congratulate Sibelius and at the same time he was charmed by Koli and its surroundings.

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Pekka Halonen was seen at a local café and we exchanged some of our newest findings and talked about how we were doing.

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Venny Soldan-Brofeldt was painting at Koli and she made beautiful paintings about the sceneries and the woods of Koli area.

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Juhani Aho had just got some vacation and he wrote about how he was looking forward to go to Koli on a vacation.

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Eero Järnefelt was a realist and he was trying to make in his production a new Finnish national trend.

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Characteristics of his work is balanced composition, sure and very skillful drawing and colours often in the shades of grey.

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Pekka Halonen belongs to Finnish golden era classics with Akseli Gallén Kallela, Albert Edelfelt and Eero Järnefelt.

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Now it’s time for a question.

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From the top of the hill Koli Sibelius was watching East. There, across the lake on the other side on a beach he had spent his honeymoon 17 years earlier.

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His present life was filled with worry and fear about a tumour in his throat, problems of publishing and monetary concerns.

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At home Sibelius wrote to his diary: "At Koli. One of my life’s greatest experiences! Plans. 'La Montagne'!"

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Is the 4th symphony one of these works or has it got some of its inspiration from a trip to Koli?

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Eero Järnefelt is part of Finland’s golden era of artists. His motto is “only truth is permanent“.

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Second of his ideals is that an artist is a servant of his country.

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Järnefelt travelled to Koli from 1892 several times, from 1910-1930 almost on a regular basis.

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Eero as his dad’s favourite son had followed his father’s footsteps strolling round the shores of their summer cottage in Vesijärvi.

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I.K. Inha was a writer, a photographer, a translator, an artist and a journalist. He’s one of the masters of Finnish photographers.

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He’s done a lot for folklore, old way of life and has been capturing Finnish landscapes.