Vuoksi river & Imatra rapids
Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865-1931): Imatra in the winter, 1893 (153x194 cm), Ateneum Art Museum.
Photo: Finnish National Gallery
Saimaa’s outlet channel River Vuoksi broke through the sandy part of the First Salpausselkä at Vuoksenniska about 5,700 years ago due to the flooding of the Lake Saimaa.
The waters of Lake Saimaa sought their way into fragmented part of the bedrock, a fracture, and eroded a deep gorge. Today, Imatra rapids only rage in the shows, but before the rapids were dammed, it was a wild and mesmerizing sight.
Tourism in Finland began at Imatra and many artists from the Golden Age visited Imatra rapids, which were flowing freely at the time. One of the best-known works is probably Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s Imatra in winter. Gallen-Kallela was invited to paint at Imatra, in the winter of 1893, in connection with the opening ceremony of the wooden hotel.
