The highest point of the ridge is 25 metres above the lake surface and called Runeberg’s mound after Finland’s national poet. A 3.5-metre high stone stands on the mound in honour of Runeberg. Engraved on the stone is a verse from his poem “The fifth day of July”:
“From this shore,
oh youngster,
a sweet piece of fathers’ land you see.”
The road authority and Finnish Forest Research Institute erected the stone as a joint operation in 1939. Runeberg is known to have visited Punkaharju in June 1838, and who knows, might have written the poem onsite.
LocationHarjutie 423 58450 Punkaharju