Where to Stay in Rymättylä, Varsinais-Suomi

Rymättylä is known as an island parish of the south-western Finnish archipelago, set among the skerries of Varsinais-Suomi and joined now to the town of Naantali. The medieval stone Pyhän Jaakobin kirkko, the church of St James, stands at its heart as one of the oldest in the region. Islands shape everything here.

The scenic Saariston rengastie threads the islands past Rymättylä, while at the village of Röölä the Silliperinnekeskus Dikseli keeps the old herring-fishing heritage of the outer skerries.

The medieval stone Pyhän Jaakobin kirkko is the landmark that tells the parish story, the church of St James standing among the oldest in Varsinais-Suomi. Islands carry the rest. The scenic Saariston rengastie threads its way past Rymättylä through the south-western Finnish archipelago, while at the village of Röölä the Silliperinnekeskus Dikseli keeps the heritage of herring fishing in the outer skerries.

Nearby in Naantali stand the medieval abbey the Naantalin luostari and the well-known Moomin park Muumimaailma.

Rymättylä's history is the history of an old island parish. The medieval stone Pyhän Jaakobin kirkko gave the scattered archipelago its centre, the church of St James raised among the skerries of Varsinais-Suomi to gather the island farms and fishing hamlets into one parish under the Crown. Faith and fishing came together.

For centuries the people of these islands lived by the water, the herring of the outer skerries a mainstay now remembered at the village of Röölä in the Silliperinnekeskus Dikseli. The sea long set the rhythm of life here. Island roads and ferries slowly bound the scattered settlements together, a network later drawn into the scenic Saariston rengastie that threads the south-western Finnish archipelago, and Rymättylä kept its own church and harbours through generations of farming and fishing.

In time the old parish was joined to the neighbouring town of Naantali, the medieval seat whose abbey the Naantalin luostari and later the Moomin park Muumimaailma drew visitors to the coast, and Rymättylä became the island quarter of that wider municipality in Varsinais-Suomi.

Rymättylä lies in the inner archipelago of Varsinais-Suomi, in south-western Finland, a parish of islands and skerries reaching out into the sea. Bridges, sounds and ferry crossings tie the scattered land together, the church village around the Pyhän Jaakobin kirkko gathered on the main island while smaller skerries spread out toward open water. The sea is everywhere here.

The scenic Saariston rengastie threads through Rymättylä and the village of Röölä on its loop through the islands, the parish joined now to the mainland town of Naantali along the archipelago's edge.

Rymättylä has the milder, sea-tempered weather of the south-western Finnish archipelago, the surrounding water softening the seasons of Varsinais-Suomi. Winters are cold but moderated. The sea around the islands holds the chill more gently than the inland lakeland, though ice can still close the sounds and ferry routes through the depth of the season near Rymättylä.

The long northern daylight then warms the skerries through a green and breezy summer, the season when the archipelago cottages along the Saariston rengastie fill before the autumn storms sweep in off the open water.

Rymättylä is reached by road and bridge from the mainland town of Naantali, and the car is the usual way in. The drive runs out across the bridges of Varsinais-Suomi onto the islands, the route joining the scenic Saariston rengastie that loops through the archipelago past the church village. Ferries carry on from there.

Free island ferries link the outer skerries beyond Rymättylä and the village of Röölä, and visitors from farther off come through Naantali and the regional cities before the last stretch onto the islands.