Kalla islets (Maakalla and Ulkokalla)
The Kalla Islets (Kallankarit), Maakalla and Ulkokalla, lie in the Gulf of Bothnia about 20 kilometres off Kalajoki. Apart from their nature and history, a special feature of the islets is their autonomy - their authority is vested on the Islet Council ('karikokous'), which also exercises the supreme jurisdiction on the islets.
The autonomy of the islets dates back to a statute passed by Adolph Frederick, a King of Sweden, in 1771. In this ‘hamina-ordningi' he directed the fishermen to be in charge of the administration on the islets. As a result, even in this day and age the Islet Council assembles every summer on the Sunday preceding the 25th of July to make decisions about matters concerning the islets.
In the beginning the Kalla Islets were but shoals. Due to uplift, they began to rise above sea level around the end of the 1400s.
As soon as it became possible, fishermen began to use Maakalla as their base when fishing out on the open sea. The life on Maakalla was at its most lively around the 1850s, when more than 200 people spent the summer seasons on the islet. Fishermen were also drawn to the islets because the ‘karinpauha' areas, the shallows near Maakalla, were the best areas off the coast to go fishing for Baltic herring.
Maakalla still functions as a fishermen's base. It is also a popular tourist attraction in summer. In addition to several fishermen's huts, there is also a church, a little vicarage and a small fishing museum on the islet.
Ulkokalla, where fishermen also used to live in summertime, lies about 4 kilometres off Maakalla. From the year 1856 onwards there has been a lighthouse on Ulkokalla. A lighthouse keeper lived on the islet until 1976, when the lighthouse and the weather station which is also situated on the islet were automatized. Nowadays there is accommodation available on the Ulkokalla islet, in the former lighthouse keepers residence.
GUIDED TOURS TO KALLA ISLETS AND ACCOMMODATION ON ULKOKALLA LIGHTHOUSE ISLET PROVIDES:
