Pieksämäen maaseurakunnan kirkonmäki

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

The church area of Pieksämäki rural parish, with its church, manor and parsonage, represents well the historical phase before the liberalisation of land sales. It is a visually striking ensemble on an open field ridge, right beside the centre of the town of Pieksämäki.

The yellow-painted cruciform church within the churchyard enclosed by a stone wall dates from the mid-18th century, and its bell tower in its present form dates from the 1840s.

The main building of Moisio manor, next to the church, has a hip roof and dates from the 1860s. The park-like yard also contains a servants' hall, a large stone cowshed, a shed, a sauna, a grain storehouse and two residential buildings.

The Gustavian-style parsonage with a mansard roof was built in 1800-1804. It is one of the few Gustavian-style parsonage buildings in Finland and a representative example of parsonage architecture. From the parsonage's large building stock, the so-called papin saatavien granary, a shed and a sauna have survived.

On the east side of the church, along Rantatie road, stands Pieksämäki's first elementary school, built in 1872.

History

The church village of Pieksämäki, consisting of 16 farms concentrated at the southern end of Lake Pieksänjärvi, belonged to the Visulahti administrative parish in the 1560s. The parish of Pieksämäki was established in the 1570s.

The rural parish church was built under the direction of master builder August Sorsa in 1752, although it was only finally completed six years later. The church hall and sacristy have preserved paintings by Mikael Toppelius and Daniel Hjulström. A separate wooden bell tower was completed in 1746.

The church was altered in the 19th century according to plans by the provincial architects Kiseleff and John Lybeck. In the 20th century, the architects Antero Pernaja and Heikki Elomaa were responsible for the alteration plans. The extensive repair work, concentrated mainly on the interiors, was completed in 2003.

The Moisio estate, established in 1748, developed into a manor house at the end of the 18th century. The Empire-style main building was completed in the 1860s.

The main building of the parsonage was completed in 1804. The building was repaired in 1846, 1886 and 1965. In the parsonage yard stood the house of the assistant priest, which was the birthplace of Sylvi Kekkonen.