Pedersöre courthouse

Vaasantie 116 Pietarsaari

The construction of the courthouse was led by Johan Klubb, a local ship master builder. People argued about the place of the courthouse, but it was finally built according to the common people’s wishes in Kirkkoranta, close to the old coastal road (Vaasantie). In those days, Kirkkoranta was the centre of the Pedersöre parish, a village settlement with a parish granary and church cottages. A dungeon was located on the other side of the road. “Galgbacken”, an execution ground, was not far away either.

The medieval stone church of Pedersöre also stands in this central location next to the courthouse. In the early 1770s, a little before the courthouse was finished, a bell-tower was built under the guidance of Thomas Rijf and Matti Honka.

The last court session in this courthouse from 1787 was held in March 1967, after which the building served mainly as a parish storage. At some point, the courthouse has also been used as a hospital for Russian soldiers, a confirmation classroom, and Pedersöre municipality office, assembly and election facility.

The building has been repaired and renovated a few times during the last two centuries, but it has largely retained its original appearance. Some of the furniture, such as the court judge’s chair, also date from the early years of the courthouse.

An association is presently in charge of the activities and plans concerning the courthouse. Today the building is a museum, and its first theatre performance was arranged in summer 2017: a play about a trial in which a farmer was accused of several murders in the early 1860s.