Stone sourced for grave monument of former President Martti Ahtisaari in Lappeenranta

Finding the stone for the grave monument of former President Martti Ahtisaari, who passed away over a year ago, has proven to be a significant challenge for a stonemasonry company in Lappeenranta. The monument is crafted from Ylämaa green granite, sourced from Palin Granit’s quarry in Lappeenranta. Locating a stone over 4.5 meters in size was anything but ordinary.

According to Pauli Salmela, the technical director at Palin Granit, when he first heard the dimensions, he doubted whether they could find such a large block. “My first question was whether it could be done in two parts,” he joked. Eventually, they located two suitable massive blocks that met the required quality standards.

Salmela emphasized that during his 20 years in the business, they had never produced a five-meter green granite stone from this region. The challenge with natural stone is the presence of impurities, making it difficult to find a cohesive and intact large block. Fortunately, they found a stone measuring five meters in length, two meters in height, and 1.5 meters in thickness, which was completely intact.

Palin Granit sourced the stone, while the sculpture itself was crafted by Loimaan Kivi, which visited the quarry to ensure compatibility. The stone was then shaped and sent for final detailing.

Due to the size of the monument, shaping it involved both machine and manual labor. Mikko Paljakka, the CEO of Loimaan Kivi, noted that every step needed thorough pre-planning to avoid errors, as material can only be removed from the stone.

The completed monument is set to be unveiled on November 10, Father’s Day, at Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki, with a live broadcast of the event on Yle TV1 and Yle Areena.