General
The municipality of Nakkila was founded in 1861. The population is just under 6000.
Nakkila is located in the province of Western Finland, county of Satakunta and the region of Pori.
The municipality of Nakkila is located by the Kokemäenjoki River between the towns of Ulvila and Harjavalta. Kokemäenjoki River is the only waterway in the municipality and it cuts through the town from the south-east to the north-west.
The Pori-Tampere railway and Highway 2 from Pori to Helsinki wind through the city in the direction of the river.
Nakkila is well-known for the old saying “around the Church of Nakkila” which is subject to many explanations. However, the explanations always lead to the inn located next to the Church of Nakkila, which was a resting place for men on trading trips. They enjoyed “sips” for their sorrows and of course certain things happened that they did not want to elaborate when they returned home. With feigned piety, their whereabouts were only stated as around the Church of Nakkila.
Lampreys and rocking chairs originating from Nakkila are also widely known. The coat of arms of Nakkila portrays a lamprey and ears of grain. Cultivation has previously been the most important livelihood in Nakkila. The fields are still bountiful and produce a good harvest, although modern industries are now more significant than agriculture.
The Nakkila rocking chair traces its origins to a rocking chair brought from the Åland Islands in the 19th century. The carpenters of Nakkila used it as a basis for their own local model. Rocking chairs from Nakkila have been exported to the United States and Russia as well as offered as a gift to several Finnish statespeople. The carpenters of Nakkila still cherish the traditional craft and rocking chairs are still made to order according to the traditional model.
Nakkila has two friendship towns: Hudiksvall in Sweden and Boksitogorsk in Russia. In recent years, contact with the Swedish friendship town has been closer.
Nakkila today
The population of the municipality was 5781 on December 31, 2011.
The tax rate for the year 2013 was 20.25 %.
The area of the municipality: Land 183.09 km² + water 1.76 km² = Total 184.85 km² (latest change January 1, 2005).
Distances:
Pori 18 km
Helsinki 220 km
Tampere 120 km
Turku 130 km
The nearest airport is located in Pori (18 km).
Mäntyluoto harbour is 40 km away.
The nearest railway stations are in Harjavalta (10 km) and Pori (19 km).
Nakkila is an important industrial municipality in Satakunta. The largest employer is Suominen Kuitukankaat, which employs approximately 100 people. There are numerous different kinds of entrepreneurs in the metal industry and the service sector. The Satakunta Arts and Crafts Institute is located in the municipality and its versatile curriculum focuses on handicrafts and the modern media.
A new conqueror in Nakkila is Länsi-Suomen tv- ja elokuvakeskus (Western Finland’s TV and Motion Picture Centre) that focuses its operations around the Villilä Mansion and its numerous historical buildings. The whole mansion area is living a new era, for example the main building houses a reservation restaurant.
SIGHTS
Church of Nakkila and Parish Home
The church was completed in 1937 and is the first functionalist style church in Finland. It was designed by architect Erkki Huttunen. The church was donated by factory owner J. W. Suominen and his wife Emma Suominen. The donor couple has been buried in a crypt under the church. The height of the church tower including the cross is 58 m. The church is located on a high hill, making it visible from far away when approaching the centre of Nakkila.
The Church of Nakkila is open 9am-4pm every day from June through August. Inquiries by phone: +358 2 5379 300
There is a parish home designed by Juha Leiviskä in front of the church. Juha Leiviskä is one of the most well-known architects in Finland and he has won e.g. the world’s most prestigious architecture prize, the Garlsberg prize, in 1995. The parish home is a very popular sight architecturally.
The parish home is open by reservation. Inquiries by phone: +358 2 5379 300
Homestead Museum
The Homestead Museum area is located next to the sports field. There are ten different buildings in the area, e.g. Pakkalan puustelli that was built in the 1720s. Puustelli was transferred to the museum area in the 1970s. The items on display at Puustelli date from the 19th century. Additionally, there is a skirt-style windmill, a granary, a workshop, smoke sauna etc. Large amounts of farming equipment have been collected for display in the buildings, ranging from housekeeping supplies to vehicles and tools. In addition, there are for example a shoemaker’s and a tailor’s workshops with tools and the village smith’s workshop as well as a miniature lamprey fishing construction.
Homestead Museum is open in the summer on Sundays 1pm – 4pm, enquiries and demonstrations by phone +358-44-2091717
Cheese Dairy Museum
Finland’s first cheese dairy museum is located next to the church in the municipality’s former granary, a brick building constructed in 1859. The items on display consist of cheese production equipment.
The Cheese Dairy Museum is open by reservation, enquiries by phone. +358-44-2091717
Other Museums
The School Museum of Pyssykangas is located in Hormisto, at the old school of Pyssykangas (address: Koulupolku 25) and is open by reservation,
enquiries by +358-44-7475914 / Culture Office.
The museum collection of the retirement home Hyppinki is located adjacent to the retirement home. The collection contains all kinds of treatment equipment from the past decades. Demonstrations by reservation, enquiries by phone: +358-44-7475867.
Arantilankoski
There are five rapids in the Kokemäenjoki River in the Nakkila area and they are very popular among e.g. fly fishers. The downstream of the Kokemäenjoki River is a waterway abundant with salmon and whitefish. The most well-known rapid is Arantilankoski which is located in the centre of the municipality and offers a wide variety of leisure activities from fly-fishing to rafting. The beautiful grove-like river landscape and high river banks provide for a wonderful view from for example canoes.
The leisure fishing area of the Nakkila region
Villilä Mansion
The history of the Villilä Mansion
Villilä Mansion is located near Highway 2 when approaching the Church of Nakkila. The mansion houses Länsi-Suomen tv- ja elokuvakeskus Villilä (Western Finland’s TV and Motion Picture Centre Villilä) and its motion picture studios as well as teaching locations of the Nakkila branch of Satakunta Vocational Institute. The studios were used as the filming location for e.g. movies directed by Timo Koivusalo: Sibelius and Kaksipäisen kotkan varjossa (Shadow of the Eagle). Concerts and exhibitions are also held at the mansion.
Visits can be booked at Villilä Studios, tel. +358-500-635163
There is a restaurant in the mansion’s main building. Various celebrations and training events are organised in the main building. The yard area boasts modern accommodation facilities and also a separate sauna for new experiences (a restored wooden sauna). https://www.villilankartanohotelli.fi/
Harjavalta Power Plant
There is a power plant on the Harjavalta and Nakkila border which is owned by Länsi-Suomen Voimaosakeyhtiö. It was built at the end of the 1930s. The drop is 26.5 meters. A beautiful view opens from the power plant to grove-like river banks. The river runs in its deep channel from the power plant towards Nakkila, all the way to the Ulvila town border.
Salomonkallio – winter sports and golf
http://www.salomonkallio.fi/
http://www.nakkilagolf.fi/
Salomonkallio Oy is located in Kivialho (address: Suomalaisentie 71) and provides versatile winter sports opportunities: downhill skiing, cross country skiing routes, swimming in a hole in the ice.
In the summer, Salomonkallio offers the option to play golf, as there is a well-maintained 9-hole golf course in the area. There is also a café and meeting, sauna and accommodation services as well as a caravan area. The area also has a place for swimming.
Prehistoric relics
The Bronze Age residential area of Rieskaronmäki is the oldest permanent residential area found in Finland. There are drafted blueprints available of the Rieskaronmäki house. The ancient location of the house is within a walking distance from the road.
The Bronze Age barrow of Selkäkangas is also one of the oldest relics in our country and its size is 43 m x 11 m. Professor Unto Salo has examined the structure of the grave site in detail. It can be assumed that the grave was built as a memorial for a very important person.
Ancient relics from the Kiukainen culture are located in the Uotinmäki area. The Kiukainen culture was a transformational period in the prehistory of Finland, during which the country moved from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age in 2000 – 1500 BC. Fields, pastures and plots as well as ruins of grave sites of a prehistoric residential area have been found in the Uotinmäki area.
Leistilänjärvi
Leistilänjärvi is a dried lake, the drying of which began already in 1777. The drying was not completed until after the wars in the 1940s by using prisoners as workforce. The total size of the area is around 1500 hectares. After the war, a large number of immigrants were placed in the surrounding area.