Kuopio is the ninth largest town in Finland and it is located on the shores of Lake Kallavesi in the region of Pohjois-Savo (Northern Savonia). Nowadays the population of the city comes to about 90 thousand people. The city is one of the centers of wood-processing industry. At the same time Kuopio plays an important role in the cultural life of the country. This area is famous for its music festivals and sport competitions.

The first settlement was founded in 1653 by Governor Peter Brahe, but the official foundation date is considered to November 17, 1775, when the Swedish king Gustav III ordered to establish a town on Lake Kallavesi. There are several versions why the town and its neighbourhood were named Kuopio. One explanation says that there was a very influential person in the 16th century, who owned the lands in that area. He changed his own name from Kauhanen to Cuopio, and the local people eventually called this land Kuopio. The second version says that the name of the region comes from the Finnish verb "kuopia" which means "to dig". The third theory is that the name is derived from the Karelian man's name Prokopij in the Middle Ages. The last version is supported by the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland.

Kuopio was developing as a trading place but as it was located pretty far from main trading ways the development was quite slow. In 1856 when the construction of Saimaa Canal was finished the town received an access to the Baltic Sea and it became a significant port in the central part of Finland. Later in 1889 the construction of railway reached Kuopio. Due to this fact the town developed much quicker.

Puijo Tower
Puijo Tower is one of the major sights in Kuopio. It is a 75-meter high television and observation tower, which is located on Puijo Mountain. The first tower was already built in 1856 and it was a wooden one. The second tower was constructed in 1900 and it was dismantled only in 1963, when the third one was completed. There is a revolving restaurant on the top of the tower and an observation area. The restaurant was opened together with the tower and it is very popular and it was already visited by 5,5 million people. On the western side of the tower there are ski jumping hills. Every year Ski Jump World Cup is held in Kuopio. Although most of the area on Mount Puijo is a nature reserve, there are a lot of organized ski and bicycle routes.

Kuopio Cathedral (Kuopion Tuomiokirkko)
Kuopio Cathedral is the main church of the city. It was built within 1806-1815 in neoclassical style. Today the cathedral is the seat of Kuopio Diocese. The first plan of the cathedral was created by architect Pehr W. Palmrooth in 1795. The construction started only in 1806 under supervision of architect Jaakko Rijif. Due to the Finnish War in 1808 when Russia fought Sweden, the construction was stopped and only four years after the war the building was continued by architect Pehr Granstedt. The church was consecrated and opened to the public in 1816. The cathedral was reconstructed several times and the last one took place in 1961.