Taistelijan Talo Karelia

The striking wooden Taistelijan Talo was designed by Joensuu architect Erkki Helasvuo in 1988 to symbolise the meeting of East and West. On the ground floor, the restaurant (buffet €19) offers an excellent all-day Karelian buffet. The WWII museum downstairs has multimedia exhibits, photo exhibitions and weaponry displays relating chiefly to the Winter and Continuation Wars fought along the nearby border. Outside are artillery and vehicles as well as a Big Hat sculpture (the town’s name translates as Hat Mountain).