Revitalisation activities at the Paanajärvi Village

The Kuhmon Kulttuurikornitsa Foundation ( since the1st January,.2000: Juminkeko Foundation) made an application to have the Paanajärvi put on the World Monuments Watch List of the 100 most endangered world heritage sites for 1996. It was accepted, joining such sites as the Pompei and Taj Mahal. The Paanajärvi Village was accepted on the list in 1989-99 and 2000-2001 as well.

The Juminkeko Foundation received from the American Samuel H.Kress Foundation - at the recommendation of the WMW - a grant in 1998 and in 1999 to train the villagers for restoration work. Funds were also received for this purpose from the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999-2002) and from The Finnish Culture Foundation.

The first period of the course began in autumn 1998 and continued till autumn 2002, when the traineers received the qualification of an assintant restoration worker. The further training for one and half year, began in 2002 through the EU´s TACIS CBC Small Project Facility -Programme after which the traineers will receive a qualification for independent restoration worker. During the courses buildings that are categoriced as cultural historical memorials at the Paanajärvi Village could have been restored in accordance with the permission Karelian cultural authorities. One part of the training has been repairing windows and roofs of the houses where people live all around the year.

Superintended by Academic, Professor of woodden architecture ,Vjatseslav Orfinsky, the Juminkeko Foundation has prepared a restoration plan for the Paanajärvi by the means of the Finnish Culture Foundation. The restoration drawings have been made by the restoration architect Aleksanteri Jääskeläinen, who has been also working as a main instructor in the restoration cources.

By means of the Finnish Environmental Ministery Juminkeko Foundation has built a saw facory at the Paanajärvi that was needed for the restoration work and that will later as a firm give work for the villagers. The saw factory is amortized to the village. A forgery is also built in conjuction with the saw.

The Juminkeko Foundation has obtained a horse to the village to serve the villagers f.ex. during the spring plowing and transporting firewood in winter and has obtained for other transporting needs a tractor and a lorry.

The Arhippa Perttunen Foundation and the Juminkeko Foundation have organized international cultural tourism to Paanajärvi since 1995.

Paanajärvi
Valkeakoski Power Plant -Project
Paanajärvi, a site of WMW
What to see
Panorama
Audio sample