Archipelago & Countryside
The Porvoo archipelago has a lot to offer for those who live there, and also for those who only spend their leisure time there. Coexisting with the old archipelago life are the owners of summer cottages and the boaters and yachties.
Some of the residents of the Pellinki island make their living from the archipelago, as many have fishing or boat building as a source of income. You can get acquainted with the old traditions in Hörbergsgården outdoor museum, which introduces visitors to the life of a 19th century archipelago farmhouse. The boatyards in Kråkö and Pellinki will send to seas boats made by following the old boatbuilding traditions.
The guest marinas in the archipelago, for example in Tirmo and Hamari, will greet the boaters warmly welcomed. You can also reach Pellinki by road. This gives you an opportunity to enjoy a free ferry ride from Tirmo to Pellinki. The ferry is one of a kind, because it’s the only ferry still in use in the archipelago in Itä-Uusimaa region. On a beautiful summer evening Tanssisaari (Dance island) in Tolkkinen invites you to join a good old-fashioned dance in the outdoor dance hall. Axe throwing is a unique form of competing in Pellinki. The sport has many followers and the people of Pellinki have won the Finnish championship several times.
The fast wooden yawl of Pellinki
Wooden boats, particularly wooden yawls, have for centuries been an integral part of life on the coast. According to most landlubbers, yawls are all alike, but the boatyards of the coast of the Gulf of Finland disagree: the Pellinki boat of the Porvoo archipelago is one boat and the Summa boat of the Kotka region another. Both boat types are tear-shaped, but in the Pellinki boat the thick end of the tear is in the bow and in the Summa boat in the stern. The Pellinki boats are fast, because in olden times you had to start out early in the morning from the archipelago in order to arrive at the marketplaces of Porvoo or Helsinki before other islander boats. The Pellinki boat can reach a speed of over 20 knots. It can be recognized from a list in the hull waterline.
Summer markets and Chapels
The offer of the summer markets (see our weekly summer programme) at Bjurböle and Pellinki varies according to season, but islander loaves and fish are always available.
The island chapel at Emäsalo, St. Olaf's chapel at Pellinki and Michael's chapel at Fagersta are of interest as more special destinations. They are mostly open by arrangement. Churces and chapels
Baltic herring
The Baltic herrings from Porvoo have been noted as a delicacy at the traditional Baltic herring fair in Helsinki for several years. Year 2002 the title for best seasoned fish went to Martin Tillman from Pellinki, for his fish delicacy. Same year Lilli and Henrik Kellgren, also from Pellinki, came in third in the Baltic herring delicacy contest.
Klovharun
is a small windswept, rocky island south of Suurpellinki. In this rugged environment, in a small one-room cottage, the Moomin Trolls’ creator, Tove Jansson and artist Tuulikki Pietilä spent almost 30 busy summers, enjoying life to the full. Tove Jansson donated the cottage in 1995 to the local history association, Pellinge hembygdsförening, which is now responsible for its maintenance. The cottage is rented out in the summer months except for one week in July, when it is open to the public. The date when the cottage is open can be found at www.pellinge.net.