Medieval Messukylä Stone Church Reopens for Summer; Courtyard Kiosk Extends Hours

Messukylä’s old stone church reopens for the summer season on Wednesday 3 June, offering concerts, services, lectures, cemetery tours and an on-site coffee kiosk with extended opening hours.

The medieval stone church, built around 1510–1530 to replace an earlier wooden building, will host the Kivikirkko Soi concert series on three Saturday evenings (4 July, 18 July and 15 August). Admission is free. Collections will be taken for parish music work.

Summer Sunday services are at 6 p.m., and a word service will be held at 10 a.m. on Midsummer Saturday, 20 June. The liturgical group Pyhän Mikaelin Liturginen Seura ry plans a vespers on Friday 14 August at 5 p.m. and lauds on Saturday 13 August at 9:30 a.m. Guided cemetery tours run on Wednesday evenings (1 July, 15 July, 29 July, 12 August and 26 August), each beginning with a short devotion in the church at 6 p.m. Architect Jyrki Yrjölä will give two illustrated lectures on 22 July and 5 August.

Organisers expect regular visitors as well as new summer tourists drawn to the setting and programme. The courtyard coffee kiosk will stay open longer this year after the parish hired additional young café staff, funded by a €40,000 donation from LähiTapiola to Tampere parishes for youth summer employment.

Tamperelainen reported.