Petäjävesi visitor centre secures funding for UNESCO church site

The construction of a visitor centre for Petäjävesi Old Church in Central Finland will begin this autumn after the regional development agency Elinvoimakeskus approved an investment grant covering 80 percent of the project’s €337,000 budget, Yle reports.

The foundation behind the 18th-century wooden church, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has planned the centre for years to enable year-round tourism. The building will combine traditional materials with modern architecture and meet UNESCO requirements for heritage sites.

The centre will also serve as a permanent exhibition space for the Struve Geodetic Arc, another UNESCO-listed site spanning ten countries, including six measurement points in Finland. The National Land Survey of Finland oversees the arc’s presentation.