His­to­ry

Tapion Tupa since 1979

Tapion Tupa is a rus­tic dining, mee­ting and holi­day place in Hiek­ka­sär­kät Kala­jo­ki, on the highway 8. The com­pa­ny was foun­ded by Allan and Kaa­ri­na Seik­ku­la in 1979. Now Tapion Tupa is under the mana­ge­ment of the next gene­ra­tion, hos­ted by Kari Seikkula.

Ori­gin of the name

In the ear­ly 1960s, local resi­dents found a ”Tapio’s table” tree in the forest, which spar­ked an asto­nish­ment. The spruce has a pecu­liar appea­rance, as it’s branc­hes grow from the same height. Low but with wide, long branc­hes, it is said that the tree ser­ved as a sac­ri­ficial tree. The tree pro­bably dates from the ear­ly 20th cen­tu­ry. It still grows in the forest and stands near the Tapion Tupa. Because of it’s special cha­rac­ter, it has been pro­tec­ted. Tapion Tupa is named after this tree.

His­to­ry of the Tapion Tupa

Allan Seik­ku­la star­ted a busi­ness on the land he owned by brin­ging from Kok­ko­la a three-sto­rey salt ware­house from the 18th cen­tu­ry. The upper two floors were con­ver­ted into an old farm­house-sty­le café. The first accom­mo­da­tion was built next to the main buil­ding, which was named ”Wäen­tu­pa”. The cour­ty­ard was the star­ting point and in 1983 an ele­gant farm­house was brought to the area from Ala­vies­ka which was named ”Pytin­ki”.

In 1985, the busi­ness of the area was expan­ded with the establish­ment of Tapio­land Water Park and Cara­van Area. The accom­mo­da­tion capaci­ty has been inc­rea­sed by buil­ding three semi-detac­hed houses in 1990 and in 2008 the Tapion Kei­das apart­ments, which can accom­mo­da­te fami­lies or small groups.

The main buil­ding has been exten­ded over the years, and today it inclu­des a shop offe­ring local pro­ducts, the accom­mo­da­tion recep­tion, a café, mee­ting rooms and a res­tau­rant ser­ving tra­di­tio­nal Fin­nish cui­si­ne.

Tapio’s Tupa is open all year round and is based on Fin­nish­ness and local food. The food is made from start to finish in our own kitc­hen and the raw mate­rials are sourced main­ly from pro­ducers in the local area.

The com­pa­ny has been in ope­ra­tion for a long time and the staff is com­mit­ted to sus­tai­nable deve­lop­ment and res­pon­sible busi­ness prac­tices. The concept of the com­pa­ny is unique and based on old traditions.