Kuopio - City of Finland

Kuopio is a Finnish city and municipality located in the province of Eastern Finland and the region of Northern Savonia.

The city is surrounded by lake Kallavesi, and several parts of it are built on islands. Kuopio's ample waterfronts and islands are also utilized in the Saaristokaupunki project, the biggest residential area currently being built in Finland.

Kuopio is known for its association with a national delicacy, Finnish fish pastry , and the dialect of Savo, as well as the hill of Puijo and the Puijo tower. Besides being a very popular outdoor recreation area, Puijo serves also as a stage for a yearly World Cup ski jumping competition.

The city has a nationally unique feature in its street network, where every second street is practically a pedestrian and cycle street, so called "rännikatu". These operate as woonerf streets, providing pedestrians a calm environment aside from the main street traffic. This setup dates back all the way to 1776 and the first town plan by Pehr Kjellman.

The city was a finalist to host the inaugural edition of the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.

Kuopio has always been a city of education. Some of the first schools offering education in Finnish were established in Kuopio. Currently the most important institutions are the University of Kuopio, the Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Vocational College of Northern Savonia and the Kuopio department of the Sibelius Academy.

Kuopio is known as a strong center of health , pharmacy, environment, food & nutrition, safety and welfare professions, as the major organisations University of Kuopio, Savonia University of Applied Sciences and Technopolis Kuopio are particularly oriented to those areas.


Kuopio is known as the cultural center of Eastern Finland. A wide range of musical (from kindergarten to doctorate-level studies) and dance education is available and the cultural life is active. Notable events include ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival, Kuopio Dance Festival, Kuopio Rockcock, Kuopio Wine Festival and Finland Ice Marathon. A notable place, however, to enjoy the local flavor of Kuopio life and food is Sampo, a fish restaurant loved by local and tourist as well.

Kuopio is the seat of the Finnish Orthodox Church. This is an autonomous cell within the autocephalous jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It is the only mainstream Orthodox faction to celebrate Easter on the Latin date. The late Archbishop Paul had been successful in producing literature of popular theology.