During the 13th and 14th centuries, the estuary of the Kokemäenjoki was located in the Ulvila area and direct access to the sea made the settlement's trading post one of the two most important markets in the region, along with Kokemäki (Teljä).

[1] The medieval settlement of Ulvila, which received town rights in 1365,[6] was situated in Vanhakylä (Swedish: Gammalby), also called Vanha-Ulvila (lit.

Ulvila's town rights were transferred to Pori in 1558, after the shoreline and harbor relocated due to post-glacial rebound.

The earliest record was an order issued by Ragvald II, Bishop of Åbo in 1311, which concerned the building of a stone church at Liikistö (de Templo lapideo in Lijkis).

[10] Archaeological excavations at Liikistö during the 1930s, led by Kronqvist, revealed many grave markers and carved stone pavers in the church cemetery.

[12] Further excavations during 2002 to 2003 identified the remains of a burnt wooden wall in the corner of the cemetery, where the church was thought to have been located.

The Kokemäenjoki receded around Liikistö during the 14th century, resulting in a shift of settlement and trade to Ulvila, which received town rights in 1365.

[7][4] The belfry in the southwestern Finnish style was completed in 1757, though the original onion dome was replaced by a steeple designed by Swedish architect Georg Theodor Chiewitz in 1862.

[17] Two Finnish noblemen, colonel Axel Kurck and stadtholder Gödik Fincke, a commander at the Cudgel War, are buried at the church.