Voknavolok (Vuokkiniemi)
In the times when folklore collectors roamed the area collecting oral tradition, Voknavolok was the central parish, and nearly all the significant runo-song villages lay within its territory. Thanks to its indigenous Karelian population it still is one of the most prominent Viena Karelian villages.
One will find information on Voknavolok on the web site of the Vuokkiniemi Society at www.vuokkiniemi.net/
NB! If you are going to visit Sudnozero or Voinitsa we recommend you to read information about the villages beforehand. Network connection doesn't work properly there.
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What to see in Voknavolok
In Voknavolok you can explore i.a. museum exhibitions in Onchi House and in Village House, among other things. Also it is possible to visit the monument of a runo singer Miihkali Perttunen.
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Services in Voknavolok
The Voknavolok Ethnocultural centre offers guidance and workshops. More information about accommodation and food services.
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Elias Lönnrot visited Voknavolok for the first time in the autumn of 1833 on his fourth field trip, the one that proved crucial to the ultimate composition of the Kalevala. On this trip, Lönnrot had the opportunity of recording wedding songs, of which he wrote: "I have heard numerous variants of these elsewhere, but nowhere have they been this complete."
When poetry collection first began, in the 1820 and 1830s, Voknavolok was not a big village, although it was the administrative center of an extensive parish. At the time of Lönnrot's first visit, the village had some seventy houses. Fifty years later, in the early 1880s, A. W. Ervasti reported that there were some 140 houses.
The Village Festival in Voknavolok is celebrated on the Day of Elijah, which is 2th of August. In practice the feast is on the nearest weekend of that date.