Ruotsinpyhtää Church

Turku & Finland's South Coast


In 1743, when the Treaty of Åbo split the village of Pyhtää in two, the local church ended up on the eastern (Russian) side of the border. Shortly thereafter (in 1770), this unusual octagonal wooden church was built on the western (Swedish) side. Check out the fabulous altarpiece, painted in 1898 by a young Helene Schjerfbeck.