Mikkeli Cathedral

Mikkeli Cathedral was built in 1897 on Ristimäki, in the heart of Mikkeli. Before building of the church the townspeople of Mikkeli had congregated in the current rural parish church, but this caused several disputes among the townspeople and people of the parish, concerning among other things the seating order in the church and the use of of the cemetery. Thus it was decided that the townspeople should have a church of their own.

Build mainly from brick and wood, Mikkeli cathedral was designed by Finnish architect Josef Stenbäck and it represents the Gothic Revival style. The church steeple reaches the height of 64 meters. The church altarpiece called “Crucified” was painted by Pekka Halonen in 1899. In 1955 two stained glass windows were installed in the church, one depicting the history of the Vyborg diocese and the other depicting the history of Mikkeli and the Savo historical province.

The church has 1,200 seats, and back in the day nearly all of the townspeople of that time could fit in at the same time. Nowadays the church holds many events - such as concerts - in addition to religious functions.

N.B. Mikkeli cathedral is closed to public in 2025 due renovations.