Gamla Karleby is the Swedish name for the Finnish port now called Kokkola. All down that western seaboard the towns have the two versions of their names, and the population tends to have a Swedish heritage. We were hoping to get to Kokkola and visit the Kaustinen folk festival that happens about 25 miles away in early July... the timing didn't work out, mainly because we did a few extra days 'searching' in Sweden before coming on the ferry from Umeå to Vaasa, and then driving up the coast.
Neristan
Neristan is the old part of Gamla Karleby/Kokkola which still has its wooden houses standing. This part of town was in danger in the 1960s when the plan was to 'modernise' the quarter, but the unique quality of the area - from the 1600s - was recognised and the buildings were saved. Owners and residents now strive to maintain the area, and it is subject to various planning restrictions, including the narrow range of colours for the houses. The red colour is a preservative made from copper, and is very typical of all of Sweden and Finland. Other colours are yellow, pale green, cream and a rose pink.
The tourist office page and gallery has nice images of it, and the history of the town too. Of course it's been 'gentrified' and there are little antique/bric-a-brac shops, and, strangely, a whole block of cycle shops... as you walk past, the smell of rubber tyres is overwhelming!
Neristan
Neristan is the old part of Gamla Karleby/Kokkola which still has its wooden houses standing. This part of town was in danger in the 1960s when the plan was to 'modernise' the quarter, but the unique quality of the area - from the 1600s - was recognised and the buildings were saved. Owners and residents now strive to maintain the area, and it is subject to various planning restrictions, including the narrow range of colours for the houses. The red colour is a preservative made from copper, and is very typical of all of Sweden and Finland. Other colours are yellow, pale green, cream and a rose pink.
The tourist office page and gallery has nice images of it, and the history of the town too. Of course it's been 'gentrified' and there are little antique/bric-a-brac shops, and, strangely, a whole block of cycle shops... as you walk past, the smell of rubber tyres is overwhelming!
37 Storagatan/Isokatu: Anton Söderman and his wife Brita Caisa lived here from the date of their marriage in 1832, as household 183. Their 'story' is told on their own pages, and we walked these streets many days, once in the company of Tapio Kaunuto, a genealogist and town historian whom we had contacted through the library. He had done a little bit of research on our Antons in Kokkola and confirmed that no. 37 Isokatu was indeed the house we had identified from the scratchy online versions of maps from 1835. He gave us copies of the maps from earlier days too, and took us around. In fact I had previously looked it up using StreetView, and so was thrilled to see the place in real life! |
We tried to see inside the courtyard several times, and once even walked up to the front door - there was a note which clearly said "no casual visitors", which was a shame! We had seen the occupant a couple of times, as we hung around, and eventually we found out the house is now owned by an artist, Jorma Karpela. The chief librarian said he was quite a private man, so although I emailed him via his artist's website, to ask if we could see inside the house, we had no reply. We knew it was him because the brochure from the tourist office has his photo on the front!
Maybe next time....
Maybe next time....