I took this as a representative view of Rovaniemi, as it all looks pretty much like this.

For a place with a long and proud history it has very little to show for it architecturally, for not nice reasons.

Finland's history is complicated, and sandwiched between different powers it has had to shake hands with the devil more than once throughout history.

Facing an invasion threat from the Russians (sound familiar?) and with no hope of international aid the Finns brokered a deal with Nazi Germany for support, and German troops entered Lapland in great number.

This still wasn't enough to fend off the Russians, and facing an existential crisis the Finns brokered a peace treaty with Russia. The terms required the internment of all the German forces in Lapland which was utterly impossible to achieve, so the next best was to ensure that the Finns sought to drive out the Germans from Finland.

The German Army thus retreated, and as was their standard tactic at the time, they were ordered to burn Government buildings as they retreated.

Reasonably angered at the betrayal they experienced, the German Army retreating from Rovaniemi burnt everything. Everything.