Ristiina

Ristiina lies on the waterways of southern Savolax. Its name honours Kristina Katarina Stenbock, wife of Count Per Brahe, whose estate became the centre of a new parish. Brahe, governor-general of Finland, received extensive lands in Savo in 1640 and began building Brahelinna on a ridge beside the water in 1646.

Brahe separated the parish from Mikkeli in 1649. His residence, protected by a stone wall around a rectangular building of brick and timber, was intended as the administrative centre of his lands, though construction continued into the late 1660s and the main building remained unfinished. After the estate passed to the crown, it became a colonel's residence in 1688. A later manor building housed a military school founded by G. M. Sprengtporten from 1777 to 1780.