Nousiainen

Nousiainen (Swedish: Nousis) is a mostly rural municipality in the inland of Finland Proper. This was where the first bishops of Finland resided.

Understand
The bishop seat of Finland is believed to have been here until 1229 or 1249, when it was moved to Turku. According to legend, the first bishop, Finland's national saint, Saint Henry, was buried here in 1156.

The municipality stretches a long way inland, to Kuhankuono in Kurjenrahka National Park, 20 km from the parish village. The village of Valpperi is halfway, connected to the centre by the small river Hirvijoki and Valpperintie along it. The south-west part, near the centre and Highway 8, is largely covered by fields, with minor woods, as is most of the area around Hirvijoki, while north-east of Valpperi, forest dominates.

Rantapiha by Savojärvi, a municipal recreational area in the village of Saksala, serves park visitors.

Get in
Nousiainen is 20 km north of Turku, between Masku and Mynämäki on E8 (Highway 8). The leg from Turku is motorway. The parish village lies 4 km east of the junction.

The main road through Nousiainen is road 2014, Valpperintie, changing names to Saksalantie in Valpperi and to Mynäjärventie in Saksala. Small roads connect from it to the roads of Yläne farther north-east. From the south-east, road 2010 leads from Säkyläntie near Lieto station on Highway 9 via Paattinen and Vahto to Valpperi.

The station on the Turku–Uusikaupunki railway is nowadays a community centre; reviving passenger traffic on the line has been discussed, but is in the blue as of 2023.

Nousiainen is easily reached by bike from Turku, along cycleways by smaller roads more or less following E8 (regional biking route 3) and from there to the parish village. The cycleway northward continues to Mynämäki, from where it connects to the northern branch of the Archipelago Trail and the EuroVelo EV 10 around the Baltic Sea (here on the leg between Turku and Uusikaupunki). From elsewhere you can use minor roads, with varying amounts of traffic. Keep to the right even on gravel roads, as speeds may be relatively high. If coming from Lieto station, you may want to take a detour via Arosuo to avoid Säkyläntie (high speeds and no cycleway).

See