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In the rapids of Pyhäkoski

In a Finnish travel guide from 1888, Muhos’s Pyhäkoski was recommended as a place to visit. Indeed, Pyhäkoski was so majestic and powerful that it might be hard to imagine today. As the English lady Ethel Tweedie wrote after her visit to Pyhäkoski in 1896: “No artist could succeed in capturing that view with a brush.”

Pyhäkoski korkealta rantatöyräältä nähtynä. © T. H. Järvi 1920. Kansatieteen kuvakokoelma. Museovirasto. (CC BY 4.0)

 

“If Pyhä did not enchant the traveler, then they were soulless and insensitive,” states the history of the Oulujoki Company. It has been said that travelers criticized the monotony of the calm stretches and lakes, but upon reaching Pyhäkoski, they were filled with genuine admiration that made up for the disappointments of all other destinations.

The Chain of Rapids at Pyhäkoski and Its Geological Significance

Pyhäkoski has been one of Finland’s largest and the most famous rapids on the Oulujoki River. However, Pyhäkoski was not just a single rapid—it was actually a chain of rapids. Altogether, Pyhäkoski stretched about 20 kilometers in length, with a total drop of nearly 60 meters.

The water flows through a deep fracture in the bedrock at Pyhäkoski. The edges of this fracture were exposed during the Ice Age, and in places, they border the Oulujoki as nearly vertical cliffs. This ancient bedrock is granite. In typical fashion for the area, the granite is reddish, sometimes salmon-colored.

Among geologists, the reddish granite found in the Muhos area is known as Pyhäkoski granite. It is an ancient type of rock that formed nearly two billion years ago. Pyhäkoski granite crystallized slowly from molten rock—magma—deep beneath a large mountain range at about 20 kilometers depth. When the mountain ranges eroded away over millions of years, the granite was exposed at the Earth’s surface. Erosion has worn away kilometers of soil and rock above the granite.

Along Pyhäkoski, there were several waterfalls separated by calm pools. Even within the main Pyhäkoski rapid, there were many smaller rapids or chutes, such as Siltakorva, Louhenkorva, Leppikorva, and Rakankallio. Rakankallio was feared by log drivers in the 18th and 19th centuries—it was so powerful and demanding that it was avoided by detouring far around Leppiniemi, brushing along the shoreline rocks.

The Giant’s Tale of Pyhäkoski and the Montta Legend

According to an old folk tale, Pyhäkoski was once inhabited by giants. In a cave at Rakankallio called Hiidenlinna lived a giant named Äijä, who foretold that humans would one day descend along Pyhäkoski, thus bringing the era of giants on Earth to an end. At least two different versions of this so-called Montta story have been recorded—one told to J. W. Calamnius and another to A. H. Snellman.

According to the version Snellman heard (1887), Pyhäkoski got its name from the blessing given by the man who descended the rapids. He promised to give an annual sacrifice to Pyhä (the sacred one) in order to safely pass down the rapids, saying: “Ah, if you let me safely down, Pyhä shall be your name and every year I shall offer a sacrifice!”

Pyhäkoski – A Scenic Rapids Destination and Tourism Gem in the 19th Century

As the Oulujoki grew into a popular travel route in the 1800s, Pyhäkoski’s naturally beautiful river landscapes attracted visitors on pleasure trips. The Oulu nobility had a tradition of arriving by boat to the freely rushing rapids of Pyhäkoski. They packed food and drink with them, but always caught fresh fish right on site.

More and more rapids tourists arrived. A suspension bridge was built across Pyhäkoski near the village of Leppiniemi, along with a café of the Finnish Tourist Association perched high on the riverbank. Majestic Pyhäkoski became the crown jewel of rapid routes and a major tourist attraction, described in the travel guide Matkasuuntia Suomessa (“Travel Directions in Finland”) as follows:

“On the shores of Pyhäkoski (– –) there are wide and beautiful views of the rapids. The most pleasant way to get here is by boat from Valkola to the shore of the Halonen farm on the opposite side of the river, and then walk along a wooded path (about a one-hour walk) to Leppiniemi. Here is a good peasant’s house where you can get food and might have the opportunity to see how the people of Muhos fish whitefish and salmon with a seine net in the current. It is also very peculiar to watch salmon fishing at the large weir located downstream from Valkola.”

(Ramsay 1888.)

The rapids of Pyhäkoski calmed down when the Oulujoki River was harnessed and a power plant was built at Pyhäkoski.

Sources:

Oulujoki Osakeyhtiö 1954. Entinen Oulujoki: historiikkia ja muistitietoa. (s. 298)

Ramsay August, 1888. Kajaani-Oulu-matkareitti. Matkasuuntia Suomessa I‐IV 1888–1890. Suomen matkailuliitto. Jyväskylä 1986.

Snellman, A. H. 1887. Oulun kihlakunta: muinaistieteellisiä ja historiallisia lehtiä. (s. 219)

Tweedie, Alec Mrs. 1896. Matkalla Suomessa (Through Finland in Carts). Suom. Aarne T.K. Lahtinen.