Koli has featured strongly throughout Finnish history. In the pre-Christian era Koli was held to be the home of the gods, the Finnish equivalent of the Greek Mt.Olympus. Sacrifices were made here to appease the spirits and to ensure hunting success. The first permanent residents arrived here as late as the 1600s. Some 200 years later the works of artists, musicians and authors such as Eero Järnefelt, Juhani Aho, Pekka Halonen, I.K.Inha and Jean Sibelius suddenly pushed Koli into the forefront of Finnish awareness. Koli had become the symbol of Kalevalism and of Finnish identity. The National Romantic and Karelianist movements also made Koli popular as a centre for tourists.