Kemijärvi

Kemijärvi lies on the Kemijoki, where a branching lake spreads among the forests of Lapland. In the sixteenth century both Sámi and people from Kemi came here to fish, while settlers gradually established farms along the bays. A chapel was founded under Kemi, and in 1648 Jakob Lapodius was appointed to serve at Kemijärvi and teach Christianity to the Sámi. A larger church replaced the early building in the 1690s.