Markkina Church Site marks the old market and parish centre of the Karesuando area. For roughly two centuries, the village was a meeting place for trade and church life before the old church was dismantled in 1826 and moved downriver to Palojoensuu.
There is little left to see beyond the graveyard and the quiet site itself, but the place gives useful context to the older cross-border history of the Torne Valley and Sami trade routes.