Kajaani

Kajaani is the capital and largest town of the Kainuu region in eastern Finland, set along the Kajaaninjoki River and close to Lake Oulujärvi. As the gateway to the Arctic Lakeland area, it combines a compact, walkable centre with easy access to forests, lakes and year-round outdoor recreation.

The town was founded in 1651 by Count Per Brahe the Younger and grew around trade on the Kajaaninjoki waterway. The ruins of Kajaani Castle, built on a river island in the early 1600s, recall that defensive past, while the neo-Gothic Kajaani Church and the 1831 Town Hall by Carl Ludvig Engel show later development.

Culture centres on the Kainuu Museum and Kajaani Art Museum, and the annual Kajaanin Runoviikko poetry week brings writers and performers to the town. The riverside and central streets hold shops, cafés and restaurants within a short walk, while nearby Vuokatti offers skiing and spa facilities and Lake Oulujärvi provides beaches and boating.

Kajaani also has a strong education and technology role, home to Kajaani University of Applied Sciences, the CSC data centre campus and a growing cluster of tech businesses. This makes the town a practical base for business travel, conferences and regional meetings in northern Finland.

For visitors, Kajaani offers history, culture and quick access to lakes and wilderness, with Kajaani Airport providing direct Finnair flights to Helsinki and making the wider Kainuu region easy to reach.