Where to Stay in Säkylä, Satakunta

Säkylä is known as a lakeside parish of Satakunta, its life set between farmland, a large lake and the army garrison of south-western Finland. The Säkylän kirkko stands in the village, while the medieval Köyliön kirkko keeps the old Köyliö parish joined to the municipality. A garrison shapes the place.

Soldiers train at the Huovinrinteen varuskunta, a major army base, and the old Huovintie pilgrim road and the dwelling of Lallin asumus carry the long history of this church country.

The medieval Köyliön kirkko is among the oldest landmarks of Säkylä, the stone church of the old Köyliö parish joined to the municipality in Satakunta. In the village the Säkylän kirkko serves its own congregation, while the Köyliön kivisakaristo keeps a medieval stone sacristy. Old roads run deep here.

The historic Huovintie pilgrim road and the dwelling of Lallin asumus carry the legend of Lalli, the windmill of the Heikkilän tilan tuulimylly stands on its farm, and the Huovinrinteen varuskunta holds the army garrison of this part of south-western Finland.

Säkylä's history reaches back to the medieval church country of Satakunta. The old parish of Köyliö gathered at its stone church, the Köyliön kirkko, with the medieval sacristy of the Köyliön kivisakaristo beside it, and the pilgrim road of the Huovintie crossed the district. Legend runs deep here.

At the dwelling of Lallin asumus lingers the old story of Lalli, the peasant of these shores, while burial grounds and prehistoric sites mark the early settlement of the lake country. Säkylä took its modern shape as a parish chartered in 1869, its own church the Säkylän kirkko rising for the village by the lake. Farming and the lake shore set the rhythm of the municipality, and in the twentieth century the army established the Huovinrinteen varuskunta, a large garrison that brought soldiers and training grounds to the district.

The old Köyliö parish was later joined to Säkylä. The municipality settled into its place as a lakeside parish and garrison town of south-western Finland, its medieval and legendary past kept at Köyliö and its lake shore.

Säkylä lies in the lake-and-farm country of southern Satakunta, in south-western Finland, set on the shore of a large lake among low fields and ridges. Sandy shores, pinewoods and cultivated land fill the municipality, the village centre gathered near the Säkylän kirkko by the water. The lake defines the land here.

The old Köyliö parish around the medieval Köyliön kirkko lies to the east on its own lake island, the army grounds of the Huovinrinteen varuskunta spread across the heathland, and the farmland of Säkylä runs out toward the rest of south-western Finland.

Säkylä carries the cool, lake-tempered climate of south-western Finland, its seasons softened a little by the large lake at its shore. Winters bring frost and snow to the fields and the pinewoods around the village, the lake freezing hard from early in the season until the spring thaw breaks the ice along the sandy shores of Satakunta. Summers are warm and bright.

The long northern daylight warms the lake and the beaches through the growing season around Säkylä, the time when the lakeside cottages fill before the autumn returns.

Säkylä sits off the rail lines in the lake country of southern Satakunta, and the car is the usual way in. Roads run to the village from the larger towns of the region, carrying most visitors across the farmland and along the lake shore to the centre by the Säkylän kirkko. The road is the link here.

Local and regional buses also reach the village on routes through Satakunta, while travellers from farther off come by way of the bigger towns before the last stretch down to the lake in south-western Finland.