The Church of the Three Crosses, Imatra, Finland

The Church of the Three Crosses (Vuoksenniska chruch), designed by academician Alvar Aalto, is architecturally an interesting building. Its slender, high belfry describes a down shot arrow. Instead of the altar painting there are three crosses. Among the 103 windows only two are identical. Aalto planned the church also for other activities in the parish besides services. Therefore the church can be divided into three parts. In the church there are seats for 800 persons. The windows and lightning are high up, which creates fascinating display of light and shadow. The Church of the Three Crosses was completed in 1957. The stained glass on the ceiling is as old as the church and also designed by Alvar Aalto.

Address

Ruokolahdentie 27, Imatra, Finland

See all sites in Imatra

Details

Founded: 1957
Category: Religious sites in Finland
Historical period: Independency (Finland)

Rating

4.4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

The Church Hill (5,5 km)
Border Museum (2 km)

Valtionhotelli (8,8 km)

User Reviews

Valeria Azovskaya (3 years ago)
It’s worth to bike there and see the Church from the inside. Notice the opening hours, please, it has it’s own schedule.

Marianna Kukva (3 years ago)
Тихое приятное место

Alexey Astafev (3 years ago)
Фантастика

Arttu Natunen (3 years ago)
Ok

Марина Волкова (4 years ago)
Необычная архитектура для церкви. Строгое и лаконичное здание, внутри скорее похоже на звл заседаний. При нашем посещении не было ни души, но все открыто, можно посмотреть

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Kurayba

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Beckov Castle

The Beckov castle stands on a steep 50 m tall rock in the village Beckov. The dominance of the rock and impression of invincibility it gaves, challenged our ancestors to make use of these assets. The result is a remarkable harmony between the natural setting and architecture.

The castle first mentioned in 1200 was originally owned by the King and later, at the end of the 13th century it fell in hands of Matúš Èák. Its owners alternated - at the end of the 14th century the family of Stibor of Stiborice bought it.

The next owners, the Bánffys who adapted the Gothic castle to the Renaissance residence, improved its fortifications preventing the Turks from conquering it at the end of the 16th century. When Bánffys died out, the castle was owned by several noble families. It fell in decay after fire in 1729.

The history of the castle is the subject of different legends. One of them narrates the origin of the name of castle derived from that of jester Becko for whom the Duke Stibor had the castle built.

Another legend has it that the lord of the castle had his servant thrown down from the rock because he protected his child from the lords favourite dog. Before his death, the servant pronounced a curse saying that they would meet in a year and days time, and indeed precisely after that time the lord was bitten by a snake and fell down to the same abyss.

The well-conserved ruins of the castle, now the National Cultural Monument, are frequently visited by tourists, above all in July when the castle festival takes place. The former Ambro curia situated below the castle now shelters the exhibition of the local history.

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The Church of the Three Crosses