Pyhäjärvi (until 1968 in official contexts often Pyhäjärvi Ol (Oulu
county) to distinguish it from other municipalities of the same name, in
1993–1995 Pyhäsalmi) is a Finnish city located in the southern part of
the province of North Ostrobothnia. 4,828 people live in the city and
its area is 1,459.00 km², of which 148.69 km² are water bodies. The
population density is 3.68 inhabitants/km². Pyhäjärvi's neighboring
municipalities and towns are Haapajärvi, Kiuruvesi, Kärsämäki,
Pielavesi, Pihtipudas and Pyhäntä. At the beginning of 2017, Pyhäjärvi
became Finland's second smallest city in terms of population after
Kaskisten after Juankoski joined Kuopio.
The municipality of
Pyhäjärvi was officially called Pyhäjärvi Ol until 1968, Pyhäjärvi in
1969–1992, Pyhäsalmi in 1993–1995, and Pyhäjärvi again from 1996.
Pyhäjärvi became a city in 1993.
Along regional road 560 leading
to Pielavede, there is a large shifting boulder Rillankivi, where the
borders of three municipalities - Pyhäjärvi, Pielavesi and Pihtiputaa -
and three provinces - North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and Central Finland
- meet. Until 1997, the stone was the common boundary marker of the
counties of Oulu, Central Finland and Kuopio. Pyhäjärvi has Europe's
deepest (1.4 km) and most modern metal mine, owned by the Canadian
company First Quantum Minerals, from which ore containing zinc and
copper is mined. The Täydenkuun Tanssit festival is organized in
Pyhäjärvi in late summer, which is the most significant contemporary
dance event in Finland.
The first post-ice age people arrived at the tops of Pyhäjoki and the
shores of Pyhäjärvi around 5000 BC. The most notable Stone Age
settlement has been found in Rajahoika on the shore of Kotajärvi.
Muinais-Päijänne once extended to Kotajärvi and descended into
Pohjanlahti along Hinkuanjoki towards Haapajärvi. Rajahoika's abundant
artefacts belong to the Suomusjärvi culture. Other pre-ceramic dwelling
places are Hietakylä Ketola and Kuivaniemi. Artifacts from the Kampa
ceramic culture have been found in Likolahti and Kuivaniemi. An Iron Age
ax has been found in the moss.
The region was inhabited for a
long time by the Lapps, who are referred to by several place names. In
the Middle Ages, a dispute arose between the Karelian, Hämälä and
Savoian nomads over the ownership of the area. In the 1410s, Haako
Frille started to clarify the land ownership of the Hämälä and Savo
people, according to which the northern boundary stone of the
Hämälä-Savona wilderness area was named Rillankive. Rillankivi later
became the border point of three provinces, Savo, Häme and Ostrobothnia.
It has also been suggested that Rillankivi would be one of the boundary
stones of the peace of Pähkinäsaari and that the peace boundary of
Pähkinäsaari continued south of Pyhäjoki to Pohjanlahti, dividing Lake
Pyhäjärvi in two. Despite the border crossing, disputes arose between
the people of Savoia and the people of Hämälä about lot ownership when
the people of Savoia began to settle in the Pyhäjärvi region in the
1540s. Due to Hämälä's extermination trips, Pekka Rautio from Kalajoki
and Olli Tikka from Pyhäjärvi made a complaint trip to the king. Kustaa
Vaasa confirmed the rights of the people of Savonia.
According to
land registers, there were already six houses in Pyhäjärvi in 1553. From
the 17th century, settlement progressed rapidly. In 1749, there were 740
inhabitants, 3,670 in 1805, and 6,424 in 1920. The Pyhäjärvi region
belonged to the parish of Salo until 1563, when Pyhäjokilaakso was
separated into Pyhäjoki parish. Pyhäjärvi became the Pyhäjoki chapel
congregation in 1650. When Kärsämäki was dismissed as its own
churchwarden in 1856, Pyhäjärvi was added to it. However, Pyhäjärvi
parish became independent as early as 1861. Pyhäjärvi's first church was
a modest wooden church built in 1647 near Rauhalahti's house. The new
church was completed in 1739 on Väisälänmäki. The church burned down due
to lightning in 1895 and the next year the almost finished church also
burned down. The church designed by Sebastian Grinpenberg was completed
in 1897.
Pyhäjärvi rose early on to become a prominent farmer,
whose powerful livestock farming was based on natural pastures. In the
19th century, several lakes were drained to make way for new grasslands.
To process milk, village dairies were established, which merged in 1894
to form a dairy company called Kansallismeijeri. Rautaruukki was founded
in Pyhäjärvi's Vesikoski in 1843 to process lake ore. Ruukki was sold in
1856 to Henrik Sjöberg, who renewed the equipment and increased the
production of rebar. Ruukki's operations ended in bankruptcy in 1873.
Vesikoski has operated a mill and a brewery.
Evacuees from
Soanalhti were settled in Pyhäjärvi in 1944 as a result of territorial
cessions. An Orthodox prayer room was built in Pyhäsalmi with funds from
the Finnish state. Pyhäjärvi Orthodox belong to the Iisalmi Orthodox
congregation.
The population of Pyhäjärvi rose steadily from the
beginning of the 20th century until 1962, when there were 9,823
inhabitants. After that, the population trend turned to a decline, which
stopped only at the beginning of the 1980s. In 1985, there were 7,990
inhabitants. The importance of agriculture and forestry as an employer
clearly decreased in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the past, the
municipality was called Pyhäjärvi Ol (Pyhäjärvi of Oulu county) to
distinguish it from the municipalities of the same name located in the
counties of Uusimaa and Vyborg (Pyhäjärvi Ul and Pyhäjärvi Vpl).
However, Pyhäjärvi Vpl remained in the ceded area after the war, and
later in 1969 Pyhäjärvi Ul was joined to Karkkila. When Pyhäjärvi in
Oulu County thus remained Finland's only municipality with this name,
the suffix Ol used in connection with the name was dropped as
unnecessary.
Pyhäjärvi became a city in 1993. It changed its name
to Pyhäsalmi on January 1, 1993, when it was declared a city, according
to its central district, but the previous name was returned from January
1, 1996.
In addition to the Evangelical Lutheran Pyhäjärvi congregation, the Pyhäjärvi Pentecostal congregation and the Iisalmi Orthodox congregation operate in the city area.
Pyhäjärvi has Europe's deepest (1.4 km) and most modern metal mine,
owned by the Canadian company First Quantum Minerals, from which ore
containing zinc and copper is mined.
The search for additional
ore has not yielded results and the mine is closed.
The natural landscapes of Pyhäjärvi are varied. The eastern and
southern parts of the municipality are hills and ridges typical of
Järvi-Suomi, while the northern parts are Suomenselkä's salt flats and
the western parts are Nordic. Especially around Lake Pyhäjärvi, the
landscapes are more varied than in Central Ostrobothnia in general. The
landscape is characterized by vast forests and swamps enlivened by
waterways and small open fields.
The bedrock is mainly granite
and granodiorite. The eastern part of Pyhäjärvi belongs to the Savo
shale period and the western part to the Ostrobothnia shale region.
There is a pyrite-zinc flash deposit in the Ruotanen area, which is
exploited by the Canadian company First Quantum. The most common type of
mineral soil is moraine. Few loams are concentrated in the furrows of
the northwestern bays of Pyhäjärvi and in the valley of Pyhäjoki. The
southern shore of Lake Pyhäjärvi is flanked by a ridge beginning near
Joensuu, which continues from Pyhäjärvi to Haapajärvi as Pitkänäkanga.
Pitkäkangas is one of the highest longitudinal ridges in Finland. The
highest elevations in the ridge are Haaskanypäle and Hautanypäle. There
is most peat in the northern and northwestern parts of the municipality.
On the west side of Pyhäjärvi, the terrain is flat. On the other
hand, on the south and east side of Lake Pyhäjärvi, large areas rise to
a level of more than 200 meters. The eastern part of the municipality is
named Mäkikylä based on its topography, the highest elevation of which
is Loutemäki in Vuohtomäki. The highest hill in the municipality is
Havukkamäki. Leppämäki and Pitäjänmäki Kotamäki are hills of almost the
same height.
Pyhäjärvi is a watershed region. The municipality is
bisected in the southwest-northeast direction by the Suomenselkä
watershed. In the main part of the municipality, the waters flow through
Pyhäjoki into Perämere. From the eastern parts of the municipality, the
water flows into the Saimaa watercourse, from the south into Päijänte
and from the west into the Kalajoki watercourse. The municipality's
central lake is the large Pyhäjärvi lake with a meandering shoreline,
into which several small rivers and streams flow. The lake is divided
into five pools: Piiponselkä, Kesonselkä, Isoonselkä, Kirkkoselkä and
Junttiselkä. The Iisalmi–Ylivieska railway and highway 27 cross the lake
near the Pyhäsalmi settlement. The waters of Lake Pyhäjärvi flow from
the north end of Junttiselkä through the regulating dam into Pyhäjoki.
Vesikoski and Kalliokoski have been harnessed from the Pyhäjoki rapids.
After Lake Pyhäjärvi, the biggest lakes are Lake Komujärvi, Lake
Parkkimanjärvi and Lake Kuonanjärvi, which is partly located on the side
of Lake Haapajärvi. Nurmesjärvi is an internationally significant
birding water on the border of Pyhäjärvi and Kärsämäki. Lohvanjärvi and
Särkijärvi are also important bird waters
Swamps cover half of
Pyhäjärvi's land area. The most bogs are in the northern and
northwestern parts of the municipality. Considerable natural marsh areas
are around Kärsämänjärvi and Tervaneva and Iso Karsikkoneva near
Pitkänkanka.
Villages
Emolahti, Emoniemi-Kirkonkylä, Haapamäki, Hietakylä,
Hiidenkylä, Jokikylä, Komu, Kuusenmäki, Köpsi, Lamminaho, Latvanen,
Liittoperä, Lohvanperä, Niinimäki, Parkkima, Pitäjänmäki,
Rannankylä, Ruotanen, Salmenkylä, Sammallahti, Särkiperä, Vuohtomäki
and Vuohtoniemi.
Urban areas
At the end of 2017, Pyhäjärvi
had 5,337 inhabitants, of which 2,869 lived in urban areas, 2,436 in
sparsely populated areas, and the residences of 32 were unknown. The
agglomeration rate of Pyhäjärvi is 54.1%.
Communications
Highways 4 and 27 cross at Pyhäjärvi. The Iisalmi–Ylivieska railway
runs through the town and the urban trains that run along it stop at
the Pyhäsalmi railway station. The railway and bus station are
located in the center of Pyhäsalmi.