Kerimäki, a tiny village on the shores of Lake Saimaa, is best known for the biggest wooden church in the world, “Yellow Giant”.

The church has more than one and a half kilometers of benches with more than 3,000 seats. The church can accommodate about 5,000 people. The goal of architect Anders Granstedt, who drafted the church in 1844, was to make half of the parish’s residents fit in the church at one time.

The church is generally open during the summer. Every year, the church also hosts an atmospheric Christmas morning service with hundreds of authentic candles.

You can get to Kerimäki from Savonlinna by bus, travel time approx. 30 min (23 km). Departure from the bus station or downtown long-distance bus stops.

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