Huitaperi Hill

Huitaperi Hill is located in Ylitornio municipality, near village Kainuunkylä, about 10 kilometres south of the municipal centre of Ylitornio. Signs of the earliest permanent dense settlement of the riverside have been found in Kainuunkylä and is from the 11th to the 12th century at the latest. The Torne is wide and filled with fertile alluvial islands at Kainuunkylä.

Huitaperi is one of the three treeless hills in the chain of survey triangulations, along with Kaakamavaara Hill and Nivavaara Hill in Tornio. Outhier mentions how these three hills were challenging to find suitable sites for tents due to their rocky terrain.

From the top of the hill there is a view to the southwest of the Torne and the floodplain meadows of its islands. To the north is a landscape of hills and to the east a gently undulating wooded and marshy landscape.

As of 2018, there is a monument to the Maupertuis expedition on the Huitaperi.

After arriving at Huitaperi, the expedition wanted to get the tents up quickly, as the weather was foggy and rainy. The next day, the fog lifted and the researchers were able to start their measurements.

The expedition climbed Huitaperi for the first time in early July and returned again at the end of August. By then they had managed to erect a marker on the west side of the river at the southern end of the baseline in the village of Niemis.

While on the previous occasion fog had delayed the measurements, on the second occasion the delay was caused by smoke from forest fires.

The name Huitaperi may be puzzling to some Finnish speaking people. It is a phonetic translation of the Swedish word hvitaberg or vitaberg, translating as white hill in English.

Next to Huitaperi there are two similarly named hills, Riisperi to the west and Uksperi a little further north.

In fact, Huitaperi actually has two peaks formed Huitaperi itself and Riisperi.

There are several ancient shorelines on the top and slopes of the hill, dating back to around 10,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. They are poorly defined in the landscape. The top of the hill has been washed clean by the waves of the ancient sea. The Huitaperi rocky area is designated as a rocky area of national importance.

Sources:

Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de. “Maan muoto”. Maan muoto ynnä muita kirjoituksia Lapista. Ed. Osmo Pekonen. Väyläkirjat, 2019 (orig. 1738).

Outhier, Réginald. Matka Pohjan perille. Maupertuis Foundation and Väyläkirjat, 2011 (orig. 1744).

Pellijeff, Gunnar. Ortnamnen i Norrbottens län. Del 14, Övertorneå kommun, bebyggelsenamn. Dialekt-, ortnamns- och folkminnesarkivet i Umeå, 1996. https://isof.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1087870/FULLTEXT02.pdf

Finnish Heritage Agency: https://www.rky.fi/read/asp/r_kohde_det.aspx?KOHDE_ID=2173

Ympäristö.fi: http://wwwd3.ymparisto.fi/d3/Tuura/pdf/TUU-13-152.pdf


A map

Guidelines for using the map
  • Red = Measurement point of the triangulation chain.
  • Green = Walking route.
  • Blue = Arrival from the main road (highway 21).
  • Markers: Tap or click to get more information about the destinations.
  • Zoom out: Shows the location in the triangulation chain.
  • Drop icon: Locates the user’s location on the map.
  • Measure tool: Measure distances between locations.

Open the map in a new browser window.


On the old map

Huitaperi Hill on the map drawn by Réginald Outhier (Carte du fleuve de Torneå, 1736).

Want a map for yourself? The map is currently sold as a poster (225 mm x 707 mm) in the shop of the Museum of Torne Valley (address Torikatu 4, Tornio).


Information

WGS84N 66°14’54.2″ E 23°46’55.6″
WGS84N 66.2484, E 23.7821
ETRS-TM35FINN 7351311, E 355425
UTM (WGS84)34W 625007.394 7350376.504
(Estimated location of the measurement point.)

193 m

One way 1.5 km. The return 2.5 km, if taking a different route.

Huitaperi is located in Kainuunkylä, about 13 kilometres south of Ylitornio. Huitaperi can be accessed from three directions via trails. Here is a guide to the shortest of them.

From Highway 21, turn onto Huitaperintie road and drive along it for about 2.5 kilometres. Shortly after the road joins the Kuusimaantie road, it crosses the Aurinkovaarojen jotos hiking trail. The trail to Huitaperi is part of the hiking trail.

If you’re traveling by car, you should park it at the start of the hiking trail along Kuusimaantie road.

Access to Huitaperi is via a sand pit, southwards from Kuusimaantie road.

After 400 metres you will come to a junction where you turn right. After another 400 metres you can see a trail on the left that climbs up to the top of the hill. The trail is marked with white sticks.

On the way back, you can either take the same route or go around the hill from its southwest side. The trail is marked with white sticks.

When the trail crosses a narrow forest road, turn right. Also turn right at the next junction. You will come to the same route that took you to the hill.

The Church of Tornio47 km
Kaakamavaara22 km
Aavasaksa17 km
Iso-Horila (Horilankero)26 km
Southern end of the baseline in Niemis7 km
Nivavaara16 km
(Distance as the crow flies.)

From the 15th to the 16th of July 1736
From the 24th to the 28th of August 1736

The 15th of July 1736. “After taking repose, and eating some milk, at Cainunkyla [Kainuunkylä], we left it a ten o’clock. We proceeded in the boat a league farther; after which we left the river to cross the woods and rocks between it and the summit of Cuitaperi, which we did not reach until Sunday morning, the fifteenth, at three o’clock. We immediately erected our tents, to shelter us from the fog, and a very cold rain which fell on our journey.”

Réginald Outhier. Journal of a Voyage to the North (Journal d’un voyage au Nord), 1744.

July 1736. “Four Leagues from Avasaxa we left our Boats, and after an hour’s march over the Forest, gained the foot of Cuitaperi, a steep Mountain, its Summit a Rock covered with Moss, and affording an extensive Prospect all round; which, to the South, takes in the Gulph of Bothnia: Here we erected a Signal, whence we could discover Horrilakero, Avasaxa, Torneå, Niwa and Kakama; and then continued our Course down the River.”

Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis. The Figure of the Earth (La Figure de la Terre), 1738.

The monument to the Maupertuis expedition was erected on Huitaperi on a sunny July day in 2018. The title of the monument is Luojan kämmenellä (transl. In the Palm of the Creator).

It shows a globe held by a hand reaching out of a cloud. Finland and Ecuador are highlighted on the globe. In the 1730s, the French Académie des sciences sent its degree-measuring expeditions to these present-day countries.

The monument is erected on top of the hill.

The monument was designed by architect Markus Kangas (1936–2023) and executed by sculptor Sakari Matinlauri (b. 1957). The monument was erected by the registered tourist association of Torne Valley (Tornionlaakson matkailuyhdistys ry).

The creators of the monument and the chair of Maupertuis Foundation, Veli-Markku Korteniemi, spoke at the unveiling ceremony. The play Je suis de Maupertuis – Mie olen Maupertuis, written by Hannu Alatalo from Tornio, was performed at the ceremony. Maupertuis was played by Adam Huuva from Haparanda.

Pictures from Huitaperi

The pictures open in large size in the gallery by clicking on the picture.


The expedition on the map

Réginald Outhier has written a detailed description of the expedition’s journey from Paris to Tornio and back. The journey took two months each way and was made by boat and wagon. On the way back, the expedition was in a shipwreck in the Bay of Bothnia.


Measurement points and other destinations