The Old Church of Keuruu

The church are open 15.6.-18.8.2024 daily 11-16.

The entrance fee to the Old Church is 4 €.

The Old Church 1756-1759 was consecrated (taken in use) on the 16th of June in 1758 but was not completed until the next year. The church was designed by Antti Hakola who was illitera­te (couldn’t read or write); no plans exist for any of the churches he built.

The paintings in the church are mainly by Johannes Thilen. He had painted the pictures on the gallery (apostles, prophets, kings), the pictures on the pulpit (evangelists) and the lower altar-painting, “The Administering of Communion”.

The ceiling-painting’s motif is from the Book of Revelations. The most famous of the paintings is “The Last Judgement” which pictures men admitted to Heaven and women sentenced to Hell. The original is at the National Museum in Helsinki.

In the sacristy are the punishment devices : the black bench and the stocks.

Near the Old church The 21 meter-long “Big White” is the boat of the Heinänen district and was one of the first painted ones.

Nowadays every summer confirma­tions, weddings and concerts are held in the Old Church

The New Church designed by Theodor Granstedt was erected in 1892 and this church has been out of official use since then.

Reservations for a guide at the Museum of Keuruu (quide in English, Italian and Finnish)