Puijo is a hill, the famous landmark of city of Kuopio 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 ...

and a tourist attraction. It is located near the Puijonlaakso district.

Puijo Ridge

The ridge of Puijo is a well-known and popular recreation area. A observation tower,

Puijo tower The Puijo tower is an observation tower at the top of Puijo hill in Kuopio, Eastern Finland. Opened in 1963, the tower is tall and has a revolving restaurant with 100 seats. It was the first tower with a revolving restaurant in the Nordic countr ...

, is atop the hill, near the city centre of Kuopio. The tower affords a memorable mosaic of blue lakes and green islands and a large primeval forest. A revolving panoramic restaurant is located at the top of tower, featuring local specialities. Many paths and a large track network are located on the ridge, including two nature trails. People can move freely on most of Puijo ridge, but are restricted to the paths in the nature conservation area and in some areas less resistant to use. Gathering of plants is allowed. Puijo and nearby resort town of

Tahkovuori Tahkovuori or Tahko is a resort in the middle of Finland, in Kuopio. It is about 70 kilometers north of the city centre and is open all year round. Tahko is a small tourist town with many restaurants and outdoor activities, including winter spo ...

have some co-operative programs to promote sports and tourism.

Conservation area

In Puijo area there is one of the first nature conservation areas of Finland, it was established in 1928. The size of the area is currently about 2.08 square kilometres.

Sports infrastructure

Puijo is a diversified winter sports centre and has annually winter sports events, including cross-country skiing,

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fina ...

and downhill skiing. It is a training centre of many international ski jumpers. Puijo is an internationally known as a venue for Nordic

Ski Jumping World Cup The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup is the world's highest level of ski jumping and the FIS Ski Flying World Cup as the subdivisional part of the competition. It was founded by Torbjørn Yggeseth for the 1979/80 season and organized by the Internation ...

events and its ski jumpers. Puijo has two downhill skiing runs, one of which is for beginners. Puijo is integral to Kuopio's bid for the

2012 Winter Youth Olympics The 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games (german: Olympische Jugend-Winterspiele 2012), officially known as the I Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG), were an international multi-sport event for youths that took place in Innsbruck, Austria, on 13–22 J ...

External links

* * https://web.archive.org/web/20041215010723/http://www.kuopioinfo.fi/english/perussivut/vierailukohteet/puijo.php *http://visitpuijo.fi/ Hills of Finland Kuopio Buildings and structures in North Savo Tourist attractions in North Savo {{EasternFinland-geo-stub