Saarijärvi is a Finnish city located in the Saarijärvi-Viitasaari
region, in the province of Central Finland. The city has a
population of 9,268 and an area of 1,422.72 km2, of which 171.02 km2
are water bodies. The population density is 7.4 inhabitants / km2
and it is located about 60 kilometers north of Jyväskylä.
Saarijärvi's neighboring municipalities are Kannonkoski, Karstula,
Multia, Soini, Uurainen, Ähtäri and Äänekoski.
The
municipality of Pylkönmäki (915 inhabitants) was annexed to
Saarijärvi at the beginning of 2009.
Saarijärvi is home to
Mahlun Maapallopatsas, Puuhapuisto Veijari, Ahvenlammi camping site,
spa hotel Summassaari, Pyhä-Häkki National Park and Kivikaus
village.
Saarijärvi's valuable cultural environment includes
the Kolkanlahti farm, which houses the Säätyläismuse, and the
Kolkanniemi rectory.
In February 2014, Timo Rusanen started
as the mayor of Saarijärvi after Janne Kinnunen became the mayor of
Viitasaari in October 2013.
The Saarijärvi area has already been inhabited more than 8,000 years ago, the memories of which are the archaeological finds found in the Summassaari area and the Kivikau village. Written records of the settlement begin in the 1550s, when King Kustaa Vaasa led vigorous settlement activities. Thus, in 1628, the Rautalammi keeper's chapel congregation was founded in the area, which soon became an independent congregation in 1639. At that time, Saarijärvi was still known as Palvasalmi, and it included the later municipalities of Karstula, Pylkönmäki and Kyyjärve in their entirety, as well as parts of Uurais, Konginkanka and Äänekoski. In 1749, Vanhan Saarijärvi had 1,380 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants increased by 1860 to 7,440 people. Saarijärvi became a city in 1986.
The center of Saarijärvi is located on peninsulas and isthmuses
bordered by several lakes. Summasjärvi is in the south, Saarijärvi in
the west, Pieni-Lumperoinen, Iso-Lumperoinen and Pyhäjärvi in the east.
There are more than 20 kilometers of marked trails in the Pyhä-Häki
National Park located in Saarijärvi. Saarijärvi has a total of 241
lakes, of which Pyhäjärvi is the deepest and largest.
Highway 13 between Kokkola and Lappeenranta and the
Jyväskylä–Haapajärvi line pass through the locality, the renovation of
which has been decided in principle. The line was opened to passing
traffic in 1960. The State Railways stopped passenger trains north to
Haapajärvi and Ylivieska in 1968 and south to Äänekoski and Jyväskylä in
1978.
In the fall of 2011, the track section from Äänekoski to
Saarijärvi was renovated for the first time since its opening in 1954:
the light rails were replaced with heavy recycling rails, gravel was
added to the wreath, and some of the level crossings were removed. The
overhaul enables doubling the speed of freight traffic in the direction
of Äänekoski.
In addition to Jyväskylä, you can reach Helsinki,
Lahti and Kokkola with direct express bus services from Saarijärvi.
Saarijärvi's closest passenger train station is Ähtärin Myllymäki stop
about 58 kilometers away, and Jyväskylä travel center is about 64
kilometers away. It is about 47 kilometers from Saarijärvi to Jyväskylä
airport Tikkakoski.
According to the 2018 regional distribution, Saarijärvi has the
following parishes of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland:
Saarijärvi parish
Pylkönmäki Chapel Congregation
The
congregation also operates in the areas of the municipalities of
Kannonkoski, Karstula, Kivijärvi and Kyyjärvi.
Saarijärvi
Pentecostal Church operates as an independent Pentecostal church in
Saarijärvi.
Among the congregations of the Orthodox Church of
Finland, the Jyväskylä Orthodox congregation operates in the Saarijärvi
area.
Former parishes
In the following list, parishes
dissolved in historical time in the current area of the city of
Saarijärvi are mentioned.
Pylkönmäki parish was merged with
Saarijärvi parish in 2007.
A few nationally known companies operate in Saarijärvi: Serres Oy,
which specializes in hospital supplies, Termex-eriste Oy, which produces
cellulose wool for insulating buildings, and Syöte-Huvilat Oy, which
manufactures log houses and cabins. The global Logstor group also has a
production plant in Saarijärvi that manufactures district heating pipes
and components.
Well-known companies that have since ceased
operations in Saarijärvi include Efore Oyj, which manufactured
electronic products, Ariterm Oy, which manufactured heating systems for
buildings, Saarijärven Offset Oy, Soklex Oy, and Makrotalo, which
manufactured house packages based on urethane insulation in the 1980s.
Agriculture and forestry have always been an important way of life.
At the end of 2018, HRV-Farm Oy's barn for 600 dairy cows, which is one
of the largest in Finland, was completed in Saarijärvi. Another
important agricultural company is Tikalan Oy, where, in addition to more
than 40,000 chicken coops, garden growing media and fertilizers are
produced.
The Fin Forelia nursery is located in Häkkilä in
Saarijärvi, which grows and packs forest tree seedlings. The nursery is
one of the largest in the Nordic countries. Siemen Forelia's stockyard
is located on the same plot. About half of Finland's annual need for
seeds comes from Häkkilä's seed mill.
At the beginning of 2023, a
new school and cultural center was completed in Saarijärvi, with modern
facilities for unified school basic education and high school education.
In addition, the new school center also includes the civic college's
versatile teaching facilities.
On the bioeconomy campus in
Tarvaala, the natural resources education unit of the North Central
Finland University of Applied Sciences is located, where graduates are
mainly trained in agriculture and forestry, but also in construction,
social welfare and health. On the same campus is the Jyväskylä
University of Applied Sciences' (Jamk) Bioeconomics Institute training
unit, where agrologists are trained. New teaching and research
facilities have been built on the bioeconomy campus in recent years, the
most recent being ForesTori, which was completed in 2017.
Suomen
Yogaopisto is located in Ranta-Hännilä, a few kilometers from the center
of Saarijärvi, in the middle of nature.
Events
In the summer, the Midsummer Games are held at the sports
field in the center of Saarijärvi, where top international athletes have
visited. Pylkönmäki village, on the other hand, hosts the Pent Olympic
Games, which is a July athletics event aimed at children and families.
Kirmot is a music festival lasting about a week, with diverse musical
events ranging from spiritual church concerts to today's pop music. The
Åhvenlammi campsite hosts popular "rompetori" days, the most popular of
which gather sellers, traders and customers from all over Finland.
Kukonhieka's entertainment center opens in May and organizes dances
and concerts on weekends until October. The performers are Finland's
leading entertainment artists.
Revival parties have been
organized in Saarijärvi twice in 1970 and 2005.
In the 1980s, Saarijärvi's traditional dishes were named cobbler's roast and potato mash, i.e. potato porridge, lant porridge and lingonberries, and charred fish.
Saarijärvi municipality is divided into 22 villages: Häkkilä,
Hännilä, Kalmari, Kekkilä, Kolkanhalti, Konttimäki, Kukko, Kuoppala,
Lannevesi, Hoikankylä, Lehtola, Leuhu, Linna, Mahlu, Mulikka, Paajala,
Pajupuro, Palomäki, Pyhähäkki, Pylkönmäki, Rahkola, Ranta - Hännilä and
Tarvaala. Of these, Ranta-Hännilä, Leuhu, Rahkola and Pylkönmäki form
the center of Saarijärvi.
The old land register villages of
Saarijärvi are: Hännilä, Kalmari, Kiimasjärvi, Kuoppala, Lannevesi,
Mahlu, Pyhäjärvi, Saarijärvi and Summasjärvi and the land register
villages Kukko, Kuoppala, Mahlu, Paajala and Pääjärvi connected from
Pylkönmäki.
Residential areas and neighborhoods in the immediate
vicinity of the city center of Saarijärvi include e.g. Aittokallio,
Autionlahti, Heramäki, Hietalahti, Hietarinne, Husuaho, Hämeenniemi,
Härkälähde, Karhilanpelto, Koiralampi, Mannila, Mansikkaniemi,
Mustikkakorpi, Mäntylä, Pentinniemi, Pyyhkälä, and Sara-Aho.