Military Cemeteries

Two military cemeteries are located in the municipality of Ilomantsi, one in the parish village and the other in the settlement of Kivilahti on Lake Koitere 40 kilometers away.

The parish village cemetery was established by the local Civil Guard in 1918 as the resting place of 20 soldiers killed in the Civil War. Their names are engraved in the pedestal of the fallen heroes’ memorial designed by the famous sculptor Ilmari Wirkkala.

The parish village cemetery.

Resting place of 419 soldiers killed in Winter and Continuation Wars

The cemetery lay dormant for decades until it was reinaugurated at the beginning of the Winter War in 1939. The final resting places of soldiers killed in the Winter and Continuation Wars are marked by 390 stone slabs, of which one is blank, and three bear an inscription “unknown.”

The cemetery is located on hallowed ground inaugurated more than 100 years previously. The church of the Orthodox congregation of Ilomantsi stood on the very same location in the 19th century.

It was replaced by the present church, which was completed 450 meters north of the cemetery in 1892 and is Finland’s largest wooden Orthodox church. The church is dedicated to prophet Saint Elijah.

The church of the Evangelical Lutheran congregation stands 300 meters to the south of the military cemetery. It is known as the Church of a Hundred Angels for the plentiful wall paintings depicting angels.

Churches played an important role in wartime. People came to churches to pray for fighting men, the loved ones and the homeland, and to instil belief in a better postwar future.

The cemetery at Kivilahti holds the remains of 29 men killed in action during the Continuation War of 1941–1944.