Museum sights in Finland
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Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
West of the centre, this island is best known for Seurasaari Open-Air Museum with 18th- and 19th-century traditional houses, manors and outbuildings from around Finland. Guides dressed in traditional costume demonstrate folk-dancing and crafts such as spinning, embroidery and troll-making. While you’ll see other museums like this across Finland, Seurasaari definitely has the best. There are guided tours in English at 11.30am and 3.30pm.
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Turun Taidemuseo
The excellent Turku Art Museum is a striking granite building with elaborately carved pilasters and conical turrets. Much of the art is modern, though the Victor Westerholm offers Finnish landscapes and Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s depictions of the Kalevala are always jaw-dropping. Gunnar Berndtson’s Kesä (Summer) is an idyllic depiction of sunny Suomi while RW Ekman’s The Muses is transcendent Romantic.
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Linnoitus & Museums
The fortifications in the Linnoitus (Fortress) area of Lappeenranta above the harbour were started by the Swedes and finished by the Russians in the 18th century. It's like a separate village; some of the fortress buildings are craft shops and galleries, while others have been turned into interesting museums. There are good views from the fortress over the harbour area.
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Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum
The name 'handicrafts museum' gives little indication of how fascinating this open-air museum really is. It is made up of the only surviving 18th-century area of this medieval town - Turku has been razed by fire 30 times - and all the buildings are still in their original locations, unlike most Finnish open-air museums where the buildings are moved from elsewhere, or re-created.
Carpenters, stonemasons, jewellers and other workers built homes and shops in the area, beginning in 1779. When the great fire of 1827 destroyed most of Turku, Luostarinmäki neighbourhood was one of the few that survived.
Since 1940 it has served as a museum, but doesn't feel like one: it's more l…
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National Gallery
The Ateneum houses Finnish paintings and sculptures from the 18th century to the 1950s. There's also a small, interesting collection of 19th- and early-20th-century foreign art, including a copy of Auguste Rodin's bronze The Thinker, and paintings by Van Gogh, Gaugin and Cezanne. The building itself dates from 1887.
The list of painters at the Ateneum reads like a 'who's who' of Finnish art. It houses Finnish paintings and sculptures from the 18th century to the 1950s including works by Albert Edelfelt, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, the Von Wright brothers and Pekka Halonen. Pride of place goes to the prolific Gallen-Kallela's triptych from the Kalevala depicting Väinämöinen's p…
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Ålands Museum & Ålands Konstmuseum
In the centre of town, the Ålands Museum & Ålands Konstmuseum are housed in the same building and should definitely head your list of things to see in Mariehamn. The lively and well-presented museum gives an absorbing insight into the history of the islands from prehistoric to present and includes a Stone-Age replica boat made of sealskin, and a reconstructed traditional pharmacy. The panels don't have English, so take an information leaflet on entry.
The gallery has changing exhibitions as well as a handful of paintings by local artists. Perhaps most interesting among them are the canvases of Joel Pettersson (1892-1937). You really sense the elemental forces at work be…
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Cavalry Museum
The cavalry are honoured as Lappeenranta’s greatest heroes, which may seem odd for a port town. The town’s oldest building (erected in 1772) is the stately former garrison that houses the Cavalry Museum. The museum tells the story of how this band of red-trousered warriors began as the finest mounted forces in the Russian Empire and throughout the 1920s and ’30s became Finland’s national heroes. Exhibits of their trousers and skeleton jackets are a highlight along with their horseback armoury. Even today, dragoons are still garrisoned in Lappeenranta, and when they sweep down from the fort in regular parades throughout summer, you’ll see how powerful this land-based f…
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Siida
One of Finland’s finest museums, Siida should not be missed. It’s a comprehensive overview of the Sámi and their environment that’s actually two museums skilfully interwoven. The main exhibition hall consists of a wonderful nature exhibition around the edge, detailing northern Lapland’s ecology by season, with some wonderful photos and information panels. In the centre of the room is detailed information on the Sámi, from their former seminomadic existence to modern times. In an adjacent hall is a timeline framing Sámi prehistory and history, alongside other world events, and two other halls have excellent temporary exhibitions of Sámi crafts and traditions.
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Vakoilumuseo
This popular but off-beat spy museum under the Finlayson centre plays to the budding secret agent in all of us, with a large and well-assembled display of the devices of international espionage, mainly from the Cold War era. As well as histories of famous Finnish and foreign spies, it has numerous Bond-style gadgets and some interactive displays - write your name in invisible ink, tap a telephone call, intercept an email, or measure the microwave emissions of your mobile.
There are folders with English translations, but they are slightly unsatisfying. When it's busy, there are more activities for kids, who can take a suitability test for KGB cadet school.
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Kalevala Village
The Kalevala Village, 3km east of the centre of town, is a big drawcard but of debatable value, especially if you're not with children. Despite the name, you won't learn much about the Kalevala here; it's essentially an open-air museum of Karelian folk history and log buildings with cultural exhibitions, artisan displays and costumed staff demonstrating tar-making, woodcarving, fishing and so on.
On the marked circuit, you will see a re-creation of the cabin and desk Elias Lönnrot worked at, and Pohjola House, which includes a gallery and café. From mid-December to mid-January, the site opens as a Christmas Village.
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Juminkeko
If you are interested in the Kalevala or Karelian culture, pay a visit to the excellent Juminkeko, a beautiful building made using traditional methods and modern styling. The fantastic staff can tell you anything you wish to know; there are also three to four detailed exhibitions here yearly. The auditorium, walls hand-worked by adze, has three worthwhile audiovisuals in English; also on display is a collection of Kalevala books translated into over 50 languages. With the multimedia program you can view pictures, and read and listen to extracts from the epic in anything from Japanese to Swahili.
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Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova
This pair of museums under one roof unites art and archaeology. Digging continues in the museum and along the Aurajoki, and excavations of the Convent Quarter have created an engaging display of 15th-century artefacts in the Aboa Vetus. Back in the present, Ars Nova showcases the best of contemporary art with temporary exhibitions, which peak around the Turku Biennaali, a themed show in summer in odd years. The new Oma Tila (Our Own S) is accumulating work from local artists and craftspeople, especially work produced as part of their own projects. Free guided tours offer insights into both museums.
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Lenin Museum
Admirers of bearded revolutionaries won’t want to miss the small Lenin museum, housed in the Workers’ Hall where Lenin and Stalin first met at a conference in 1905. His life is documented by way of photos and documents; it’s a little dry but it’s fascinating to see, for example, his old school report (a straight-A student) or a threadbare couch that the man slept on. One note, penned shortly before his death in 1924, recommends Comrade Stalin to be ousted from his position as General Secretary. There’s a crazy gift shop where you can buy Lenin pens, badges, T-shirts and other souvenirs of the Soviet era.
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Vakoilumuseo
The offbeat spy museum under the Finlayson centre plays to the budding secret agent in all of us, with a large and well-assembled display of devices of international espionage, mainly from the Cold War era. As well as histories of famous Finnish and foreign spies, it has numerous Bond-style gadgets and some interactive displays – write your name in invisible ink, tap a telephone call, intercept an email or measure the microwave emissions of your mobile. The folders with English translations are slightly unsatisfying though. For a little extra, the kids can take a suitability test for KGB cadet school.
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Mannerheim Museum
This fascinating museum in Kaivopuisto Park was the home of Baron Gustav Mannerheim, former president, Commander in Chief of the Finnish army and Finnish Civil War victor. The great Field Marshal never owned the building; he rented it from chocolate magnate, Karl Fazer, until his death. The house tells of Mannerheim’s intrepid life with hundreds of military medals and photographs from his Asian expedition travelling 14,000km along the Silk Road from Samarkand to Beijing. Entry includes an informative one-hour guided tour in six languages, plus free plastic booties to keep the hallowed floor clean.
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Museum Ships
Outside the Forum Marinum, anchored in the river, are four museum ships which you can climb aboard and poke around in, above and below deck.
The WWII mine layer Keihässalmi and the corvette Karjala give an insight into wartime conditions at sea; the beautiful three-masted barque Sigyn, originally launched from Göteborg in 1887, has well preserved cabins; and the impressive 1902 sailing ship Suomen Joutsen (Swan of Finland), which was built in France, was used by the Finnish Navy during WWII as a mother ship for submarines and as a hospital.
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Arktikum
With its beautifully designed glass tunnel stretching out to the Ounasjoki, Arktikum is one of Finland’s best museums and well worth the admission fee if you are interested in the north. There are two main exhibitions; one side deals with Lapland, with some information on Sámi culture, including both traditional and modern music, and a variety of costumes. There’s a display of canoes, dwellings and fishing materials, as well as a room devoted to the history of Rovaniemi itself. A scale model shows the destruction wrought by the German retreat in 1944.
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Jalokibigalleria
The Jalokibigalleria, in an old seaside customs house, has an internationally notable collection of over 3000 beautiful, rare stones and jewellery, including a crown made using a design that was meant for the short-lived king of Finland. The crown was made in the 1980s by the gallery's founder, who created the 'first and only' crown of the king of Finland from original drawings. Sheets translated into various languages guide you in an offbeat manner around the exhibits, which include replicas of the world's most famous diamonds, and a solid dose of Finnish humour.
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Lahti Historical Museum
Lahti Historical Museum is in a beautiful old manor house by the bus station. The ground and top floors hold changing exhibitions on aspects of Lahti’s history (a little English information is usually available), while the middle floor is mostly devoted to the collection of Klaus Holma, a 20th-century Finnish diplomat. It’s a treasury of French and Italian religious art, rococo furniture and fine porcelain, and an excellent series of interactive computer screens allows you to access detailed information (also in English) on every piece.
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Pohjanmaan Museo
Pohjanmaan Museo is a dynamic modern museum with plenty of opportunity for interaction. Downstairs in the Terranova section there’s a brilliant evocation of natural history including information on the nearby Kvarken area. Upstairs there are exhibitions about daily life in yesteryear Vaasa and the Hedman collection (named for the museum’s great patron who donated much of this collection), which includes a Tintoretto, a pair of Luca Giordanos, and a round Botticelli Madonna. There are also coins and ceramics.
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Sjöfartsmuseum
Åland marine heritage is explored at the Sjöfartsmuseum, a traditional museum that’s designed to look like a ship’s prow cutting into the land. Preserved boats make up most of the exhibitions, particularly glorious ship’s figureheads such as a rare male carving that once graced the California. It’s a great place to discover your inner pirate with plenty of ships in bottles, sea chests and nautical accoutrements. The central part of the museum is a re-creation of a ship with mast, saloon, galley and cabins.
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Kansallismuseo
Impressive Kansallismuseo resembles a Gothic church with its heavy stonework and tall-steeple tower, but actually opened in 1916. Inside the museum is divided into rooms covering different periods of Finnish history, including a large collection of prehistoric finds, church relics and cultural exhibitions. Look up for the vivid frescoes by Akseli Gallen-Kallela depicting scenes from the epic Kalevala, including one of the hero Väinämöinen plunging a stake into the giant pike.
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Ski Museum
A history of skis includes some excavated examples from 2000 years ago, and Lahti's proud record as a winter sports centre is given plenty of treatment. In the next room the fun starts; frustrate yourself on the ski-jump simulator, then try the biathlon, skiing on Velcro before nailing five bullseyes with your rifle. A combined ticket will let you take the chairlift up to the observation terrace at the top of the ski-jump; great if there's someone practising, and good for the views in any event.
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Sjökvarteret
At the northern end of Österhamn, Sjökvarteret has long been devoted to boat-building and you can see various traditional schooners moored here and possibly even boats like the traditional öka (rowing boat) under construction. The museum, with exhibitions on ship-building, is located in a small boatshed that still has the whiff of timber and sea salt. The quarter also has a good cafe, Café Bönan, and several artisan galleries and shops.
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Kuopion Museo
The town museum in a castlelike art-nouveau mansion has wide scope. The top two floors are devoted to cultural history, with household objects, a boat builder’s workshop, coffee shop and a recreated wooden house among the attractions. But the real highlight is the natural history display, with a wide variety of beautifully presented Finnish wildlife, including a mammoth and an ostrich wearing snowboots. The ground floor is devoted to temporary exhibitions.
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