Hossa is a village in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, located in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Oulu and part of the

Suomussalmi Suomussalmi () is a municipality in Finland and is located in the Kainuu region about northeast of Kajaani, the capital of Kainuu and south of Kuusamo. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The popul ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

. The village is a popular outdoor tourist destination and is known for the oldest

rock paintings In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also m ...

in Northern Finland, dating back to 1500-2500 BC (Värikallio). The name "Hossa" originates from the old

Sami Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise ...

word ''Huossa'' meaning "a place far away".

Hossa National Park

The Hossa National Park was established on June 17, 2017 as the 40th national park in Finland for its 100-year anniversary of Independence. Before that it was the Hossa Hiking Area (90 km²), established in 1979, was the oldest official hiking area in Finland. It is one of seven hiking areas created under Finland's Outdoor Recreation Act. There are about 90 kilometres of marked trails in the area. Most of the trails are not demanding and lead through ridge and lake-dotted terrain. The trailhead of the 162 km long Eastern Border Hiking Trail (Itärajan retkeilyreitti) is in Hossa National Park.

Hossa Visitor Centre

Hossa Visitor Centre was opened in 1991 and is situated on the shore of Lake Öllöri. It is managed by

Metsähallitus Metsähallitus (Finnish) (Forststyrelsen in Swedish, Meahciráđđehus in Sami, ''"the (Finnish) Forest Administration"'') is a state-owned enterprise in Finland. Its two main tasks are Parks & Wildlife Finland to manage most of the protected are ...

Värikallio cliff art

The Värikallio

are on a cliff near the eastern end of Lake Somerjärvi in the Hossa Hiking Area. Discovered in 1977 by two skiers, it is one of the two northernmost sites of rock art in Finland, as well as one of the largest collections with over 60 figures discerned. The human images at Värikallio are notable for exhibiting triangular heads (seen at only two other sites), and for a human figure with horns. As at other sites, the most numerous images are of animals, including one that may be the only bear depicted in Finnish rock art. Hand print and paw print pictographs are also represented. Another unusual aspect of the Värikallio paintings is the lack of boat images, which are common at other Finnish sites.

Nature

Hossa is at the junction of three waterways, which is the reason for the many areas of flowing water there. There are about 130 lakes and ponds in Hossa and their waters are clear, except for mire ponds, which are dark. The forest in Hossa is characteristic of a northern

taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruc ...

biome, primarily pine and somewhat barren in appearance. The last Ice Age left its mark in Hossa; for example, the chain of ridges that traverses the area is pocked with

kettle pond A kettle (also known as a kettle lake, kettle hole, or pothole) is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating gla ...

s created by receding glaciers.

References

External links

Hossa
Hossa's website (in Finnish).

Describes a guided Hossa trip with kids. {{Coord, 65.442, N, 29.555, E, region:FI_type:city, display=title Villages in Finland Suomussalmi