Parkkuu on the Spot

The village of Parkkuu on the map of Finland, 30 km from Ruovesi, 35 km from Ylöjärvi, 51 km from Parkano, 44 km from Tampere, 60 km from Virrat, 164 km from Jyväskylä, 197 km from Vaasa, 213 km from Turku, 216 km from Helsinki, 424 km from Oulu and 6840 km from New York.

- Design, photos, text, editing and translation © UJ 2004-2011 -
 

Slow down at the Parkkuu Crossroad!

Parkkuu is a village of about 260 inhabitants in the northern Pirkanmaa region, in the former Kuru municipality area - after 1.1.2009 the biggest part of the town of Ylöjärvi - on the west bank of the lake Näsijärvi less than 45 km north of Tampere surrounded by clean nature. When the summer visitors arrive, the population doubles. Though the municipal merger came and the municipality of Kuru disappeared, Parkkuu stays on the spot!

From the Näsijärvi direction the next door neighbour is Tampere, the stores and public services are close by and we have the Community Center in the village, as well as skiing tracks, bathing beaches and plenty of various action for children and adults around the year.

In the village inquiry of the year 2000 the villagers considered as the best features of their habitation among other things the people, the summer festivals, clear waters rich in fish, beautiful landscapes and clean nature. Equally significant proved the summer visitors, the rural environment, the nearness and accessibility of public services, the traditional culture, peacefullness, but still being close to Tampere, in other words "suitably close but still far enough" - as one replier put it -, the active village association and community, the solidarity and friendly inhabitants, and that there live regularly young people in the village too.

Water lilies floating on the tranquil lake Jakama in Parkkuu village.

No wonder, the village of Parkkuu was chosen the Village of the Year 2006 in Pirkanmaa on Saturday the 26th of August 2006.

The Village Association of Parkkuu

was founded in 1978 as a village committee and registered in 1997. The association is concentrated on the development enterprises of countryside and improving the wellbeing and functioning possibilities of the villagers. For instance in 2005 we completed the land use plan and a year later the village plan.

Annually the villagers organize a great number of various happenings as a voluntary work: get-accuainted sessions, trips to theatres, ice fishing competitions, athletic contests, social evenings, market happenings, concerts, exhibitions, outdoor church services and so on. The repertoire is usually anything between drama and quiz show, poetry and barbeque.

A long-lived tradition is the Summer Festival with dancing, competitions and programs, a huge specimen of voluntary work, the highlight of every midsummer at the Parkkuu Community Center.

The untouched peace of the old forests gives living space to a diversity of the smallest ones.

Kuru Area

is known for its natural resources: forest, water and stone. The signs of the latest ice age show all over the landscape as long ridges and a solid granite belt starting in Ylöjärvi centre continues uninterrupted over Kuru. The Kuru granite is well known around the world. Both the more common gray granite and "pallograniitti", a rare variety of granite with very decorative ring-shaped forms are quarried here. Stone is used as building material and e.g. for gravestones and memorial statues. All kinds of smaller products for everyday use as well as jewellery and souvenirs are also made of stone. Visits to the Tammikangas stone refinery and Niemikylä quarry are by appointment available for the public.

Kuru lies about 50 km north of Tampere on the west bank of the lake Näsijärvi with roughly 2800 inhabitants, but in summer time the population practically doubles. Kuru is a steady agricultural and forest management area, where the service sector is strongly developed being the major employer in the area, and all the primary services are available for the residents.

After having measured the benefits and drawbacks, distances and time consumption, the quality of life, many settlers have ended up to the country. Living in the expanding cities is hectic and also expensive, but here the cost of the communal building sites in the sparsely populated rural areas is practically formal, also the private sites cost on the average just a few euro/m², and one's way to work to e.g. Tampere takes as long or short as at rush hours within the city boundaries.

Water in the Kuru area is clean and drinkable. So the local lakes and rivers are suitable for fishing, rowing, swimming, boating and canoeing without fear for pollution. About 550 km² of the district is covered with forests for hiking, picking berries and mushrooms or backpacking.

It goes without saying that the number one attraction particularly for nature-lovers is the Seitseminen National Park, Lappland of the south of Finland. It is a versatile center for conservation and study of nature as well as a centre for nature-tourism. There are primeval forests, marshland, beautiful ridges and over 50 km of marked trails in the area with modest camping and campfire sites.

The original building of the Kuru municipal office was built in 1929 and extended with a new wing in the early 60's. Now, after the municipal merger, our local library has moved in.

Seitseminen National Park comprises 45,5 km² preserved land, two thirds of which is situated within the boundaries of Ylöjärvi and Kuru. Seitseminen is an outstanding opportunity to dive into untouched nature's state of mind, either on your own or on guided tours. An up-to-date map of the Pirkka Trail, that runs through the vast wilderness of both national parks - Seitseminen and Helvetinjärvi - can be bought for example at the gas station.

Public and Private Services

There live in the population center well over 1000 inhabitans. Also the public services have concentrated in this area: preschool, comprehensive school, children's day-care center, health center, old-age home, sports center and the library.

Decoration for house and garden is also abundantly available in the population centre.

Almost within sight there are also the church, the post office, the gas station and a 24-hours fill-up point, several stores with food, clothes, stationery, flowers and gift articles, there are the bank and the automatic cash dispenser, dining and lodging possibilities and travel agents, the pharmacy, a harbour for visitors and a bathing beach.

In Kuru there is also the Institute of Forestry of Tampere vocational college, where a great number of students graduate annually, students from forest workers to forest graduates. A number of foreign students of the institute bring also the international touch to the image of the population centre.

In the summer time the local enterprisers sell not only vegetables, berries and fish on the market place, but also among other things baskets, shoes or outdoor plants. Also the large mobile shops park there, in which one can find anything imaginable from boots to tubs. The market place is also the center of the Kuru Day happenings every summer. On that very day one can make many kinds of finds in dozens of stands, like jewelry, hats, clothes and carpets, honey, paintings, books, stone products, candies and so on.

All the long distance busses park in the centrum. The communications are flexible to all directions, most significantly to Tampere but also as far as Helsinki or Turku. So people here consider the best features in living here to be nature and peacefulness, living in the country and almost like in the city.

For further information please contact the town of Ylöjärvi.