Alkkia cultural environment trail is around 15 km in length and has five information signs. In addition to short introductions, the signs have QR codes which provide more information about significant events in the area.
The starting point of the cultural environment route and the main information panel are located on the site of the former reserve prison at the address Alkkiantie 1179, Karvia.
Learn about the history of Alkkia on the cultural environment route.
A temporary prison was established in Alkkia in the 1930s. The idea was that the prisoners would clear the peatlands in the area for settlers and farming use. As the Second World War broke out, the temporary prison was turned into a prisoner-of-war camp. Conditions in Finland were harsh in winter 1941–1942, and many prisoners died. They were buried in a graveyard in Rihkaa.
During the war, evacuees from Karelia were settled in Alkkia. When the temporary prison was closed down in the early 1960s, its property and some of the buildings were handed over to the Finnish Forest Research Institute, which established a research station here. A special institution for conscientious objectors to military service also operated in the temporary prison area until the late 1960s.
The cultural environment route has been produced in cooperation with ProAgria Southern Finland and the University of Turku’s cultural production and landscape research training program. The residents of the area and the municipalities, Karvia and Parkano, have actively participated in the production of materials.
The materials of the cultural environment route have been produced in the rural-funded “Kestävää kehitystä Geoparkissa” project. Info panels were made and placed on the route in the rural-funded “Löydä LH Geopark” project.
The cultural environment route was implemented as a collaboration between different parties.
