Nivavaara Hill
Nivavaara Hill is located in Korpikylä, about 30 kilometres north of the town of Tornio. This is where the degree-measuring expedition started its measurements. However, the Nivavaara measurement point was not used in the final triangulation.
Nivavaara was an easy destination for the expedition, as it was located near the Torne and the houses of Korpikylä. Even today, Nivavaara is easily accessible by stairs built on the top. The view of the Torne opens up from the top.
Although the location of Nivavaara was convenient for the expedition, the conditions were not. Mosquitoes were a constant source of trouble for the expedition members. Because of the mosquitoes, the tent had to be kept so tightly closed that the heat inside became unbearable. Réginald Outhier preferred to sleep in a hut made of branches of spruce, with his shoes on his feet and a gauze covering his face.
Part of the expedition went to set up a marker at nearby Kaakamavaara to get the measurements started.
At Nivavaara, Pierre Louis Moreau de Maupertuis designed a method of construction for the marker, which was later used on all hills. The pruned and peeled tree trunks were laid out in the shape of a pyramid. They were then tied together at the top. Peeled down to the pale shade of the wood, the trees were very visible to distant hills. The angular instrument, quadrant, was placed inside the mark in its centre.
The activities of the expedition were of great interest to the people living around Nivavaara, and curious people came in large numbers to follow the work of the expedition.
63 years after the French expedition of 1799, Italian explorer Giuseppe Acerbi (1773–1846) and Swedish Colonel Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrand (1757–1834) were on their way up the Torne all the way to Nordkapp.
Skjöldebrand was a skilled draughtsman and published Voyage pittoresque au Cap Nord (1805). One landscape depicts the Church of Karunki and Nivavaara across the river, on top of which rises a marker erected by the degree-measuring expedition.
The photo proves that the Nivavaara marker was up at least more than 60 years after the Maupertuis expedition.

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).
Tobé, Erik. Fransysk visit i Tornedalen 1736–1737. Om en gradmätniingsexpedition och dess nyckelpersoner. Tornedalica, Luleå, 1986.
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.
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- Measure tool: Measure distances between locations.
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On the old map
Nivavaara Hill on the map drawn by Réginald Outhier (Carte du fleuve de Torneå, 1736).

Information
Pictures from the Nivavaara Hill
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
- Aavasaksa
- Baseline
- Huitaperi
- Iso-Horila
- Kaakamavaara
- Kittisvaara
- Niemivaara
- Pullinki
- The Church of Matarengi
- The Church of Tornio
- The rapids of the Torne