Museums, Joensuu

Lusto – The Finnish Forest Museum is a destination for the entire family. It’s a place that brings back memories and creates new experiences. The national museum responsible for forest culture is located in Punkaharju, in the most beautiful landscape of ridges and lakes in eastern Finland. Lusto’s exhibitions and events provide a diverse and illustrative insight into the significance of forests in the life of Finns. Lusto is sure to appeal to visitors of all ages! https://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/lusto-the-finninsh-forest-museum/

The Museum Shop of the Olavinlinna Castle has a wide range of the National Board of Antiquities’ publications as well as other historical books, nostalgic posters and postcards. http://visitsavonlinna.fi/en/products/museum-shop-of-olavinlinna-castle/

Old Kuopio Museum consists of eleven old wooden houses which form an enclosed block. The oldest buildings date back to the 18th century and the most recent, to the end of the 19th century. The interiors show homes and workshops of different kinds of families from 19th century to the 1930´s. There is also a pharmacy museum in the block. In addition there is a café in the block. In the yard, there are many old ornamental and utile plants growing. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/old-kuopio-museum/

Two excellent museums, the Kuopio Cultural History Museum and the Kuopio Natural History Museum in an over 100-year-old building. From the enigmatic mammoth to the idyllic black cottage! The permanent exhibitions of the Natural History Museum rich in experiences, including a woolly mammoth interior, offer a possibility to experience Finnish environment and natural phenomena in an ecological setting. The permanent exhibitions of the Cultural History Museum provide information on the prehistory, settlement, local livelihoods, industry and the ways of life in Northern Savo. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kuopio-museum/

Kuopio Art Museum, located in the centre of Kuopio, is housed in a former bank building converted into a museum that opened in 1980. As the regional art museum of Northern Savo Province, the museum includes exhibitions, research and documentation of visual arts. Art education plays a central role in museum activities. The collections include primarily Finnish art from the end of the Nineteenth Century to the present, with an emphasis on local painters, from the von Wright Artist Brothers and Juho Rissanen to the contemporary artists. The central theme of the museum is nature and the environment. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kuopio-art-museum/

The Kuopio Automobile Museum is located in Puistokatu 22, right next to the local swimming hall and bowling hall. The museum is administrated by a group of local car enthusiasts. The museum contains a collection of old cars, motorbikes and motoring-related gadgets, for example, taxi meters and license plates. In the same building, there’s a café called Cafe Mobiili, where you can enjoy full breakfast, lunch and delicious pastries. The café is also rentable for different occasions and meetings. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/kuopio-automobile-museum/

The Orthodox Church Museum, which was established in Kuopio in 1957, derives from the Collection of Ancient Objects founded at the Monastery of Valamo in 1911. Most of the exhibits, which consist mainly of icons, sacred objects and liturgical textiles, are from the monasteries and congregations of Karelia: a region in southeast Finland that was partially ceded to the Soviet Union in connection with the Second World War. Objects in the museum are mainly from the 18th and 19th centuries. The museum’s icon collection consists of about 800 icons made in various styles and using a number of different material and techniques. The icons depict things subjects like Christ, the Mother of God and other holy persons and events. The most extensive portion of RIISA’s collections is made up of textile objects, nearly 4000 of them. The oldest of the museum’s textiles date back to the 16th century, though the majority of them is from the 19th century. The museum also has an extensive archive of photographs documenting the history of the Orthodox Church. In addition to the permanent exhibitions, the museum offers yearly seasonal exhibitions. These theme-based exhibitions are aimed to introduce the variety of ecclesiastical art of eastern Christian Church. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/the-orthodox-church-museum-of-finland/

The Fortress of Lappeenranta is a unique place in South-Eastern Finland. Inhabited and full of life even today, it once formed part of a defence system that also included the fortress of Suomenlinna in Helsinki and the fortress of Hamina. Although different in size, all three of these fortresses are of a similar nature and share the same passion for development. While seeking to protect and preserve these areas through careful land use planning, they also aim to increase services and levels of activity around the year. The Fortress of Lappeenranta was constructed as a border fortress, forming part of the chain of fortresses between Finland and North-Western Russia. Over the centuries, the Fortress was alternately held by the Swedes and Russians. Today, the Fortress of Lappeenranta is a valuable component of Finnish, Russian and Swedish cultural heritage and forms part of the Castles and Fortifications chain of cultural destinations. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/the-fortress-of-lappeenranta/

Founded in 1965, the Lappeenranta Art Museum initially occupied the same premises as the South Karelia Museum of Cultural History, at the northern tip of the Lappeenranta Fortress. In the 1980s, the Art Museum moved to its present site in the neoclassic-style barracks (built in 1798), opposite the Orthodox Church. In 1986, the Art Museum became the Regional Art Museum of South-East Finland. The museum is home to a collection of Finnish art from the mid-19th century to the present day. The museum’s largest single collection of old Finnish art was accumulated by Viipurin Taiteenystävät ry (Vyborg Friends of Art); this collection includes works by many well-known artists such as Albert Edelfelt, Pekka Halonen, Tyko Sallinen, Hjalmar Munsterhjelm and Eero Järnefelt. The collection has paintings by artists who were active in Vyborg or were born there. The contemporary art collections, on the other hand, focus in particular on art from south-east Finland and include paintings by Leena Luostarinen, Unto Ahjotuli, Anne Tompuri, Irmeli Tarmo, Eeva Vesterinen, Heimo Suntio and Sinikka Kurkinen etc. etc. Every year, the Art Museum also stages between three and four temporary exhibitions which feature both the latest trends in the world of art and works representing earlier periods in the history of art. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/south-karelia-art-museum/

Built in 1826, Wolkoff House is located in the centre of the town and is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Lappeenranta. It originally belonged to a Russian merchant family, from 1872 to 1986, and was opened as a museum to the public in 1993. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/wolkoff-house-museum/

Situated in Lappenranta airport, the Aviation Museum of Karelia opened to the public in 2000. The basic exhibition displays fighter planes MIG-21BIS, SAAB 35S, DRAKEN, NIEUPORT 17, FOLLAND GNAT and the school plane SAAB 91D SAFIR. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/aviation-museum-of-karelia/

Kainuu Museum is the regional museum of Kainuu. Temporary exhibitions introduce both international and local art and culture to an audience as wide and varied as possible. The museum holds a basic exhibition on the history and culture of the Kainuu region, from prehistoric times to the mid-20th century. Temporary exhibitions can be found upstairs and in the small gallery room downstairs. https://www.visitkajaani.fi/en/products/kainuu-museum/

Kajaani Art Museum was opened to the public in April 1993. The museum's exhibition rooms are located in the former police house designed by architect Eino Pitkänen. Completed in 1936, the building is an example of pure functionalist style. http://www.kajaani.fi/taxonomy/term/4800

Located on Church Park and close to the pedestrian precinct, Jyväskylä Art Museum’s Holvi is a venue for pictorial art, a place for people to gather, and to interact. The main exhibition in summer 2010 showcases masterpieces from the Finnish National Gallery, Ateneum – Ladoga Karelia patrons Elisabeth and Herman Hallonblad assembled a collection of works by much-loved Finnish artists from the late 19th to the early 20th century. The lower gallery features two artists of the current generation, Jyväskylä-based Antti Jokinen and Duncan Butt Juvonen, who has a summer cottage in Uurainen. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/jyvaeskylae-art-museum/

The museum details the history of aviation and the Finnish air force from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day: planes, aircraft engines, flying suits and equipment plus, in the new section, air surveillance, air traffic control and air navigation systems. Items on display include a Thulin Type D replica, Fokker D.XXI, Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 and Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber. In addition to refreshments and snacks, the café sells aviation-related books and magazines as well as scale model kits and associated items. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/aviation-museum-of-central-finland-2/

Take a look at the varied works of architect Alvar Aalto. In addition to his architecture, the exhibit displays Aalto's glass and furniture design. The museum building is also designed by Alvar Aalto. https://visitjyvaskyla.fi/en/palveluhakemisto/195/alvar_aalto_museum

Ylämaa Gem Museum was founded in the year 1982. The museum is the first gem museum in Finland that is open for public. Over 250 000 visitors have visited in Ylämaa gem museum to this point. The Ylämaa Gem Museum exhibition presents over four thousand gems, minerals, and fossils from all over the world. The specialities of the museum are genuine fossils of dinosaur and mammoth, and different types of meteorite. Among other things, you will see a replica collection of the world’s most famous diamonds, desert roses, ocean jaspers, quarter-ton rose quartz from Madagascar, various mineral ores, and 4000 other exciting specimens. Prehistoric fossils, corals and meteorites are also fascinating. You will learn a lot about the most beautiful labradorite of the world, spectrolite, found only in Ylämaa, some kilometres from Gem Museum. At the museum, you will also be presented fluorescent minerals radiating in magnificent bright colours, an experience to remember. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/ylamaa-gem-museum/

Located in Vuolijoki is the private Riihipiha Museum with its buildings brought to collect, maintain and exhibit the old courtyards of the Kainuu region, exactly as they were before the use of electricity became common. The collection of the 35 numerized buildings and approximately 4000 items in Riihipiha show us what life was like for the earlier generations in Vuolijoki and the Kainuu region. https://www.visitkajaani.fi/en/products/riihipiha-museum/

This Church was built on the site where Emperor Alexander II was severely wounded and died in March 1881.The church was built from 1883 till 1907. The construction was funded by the imperial family. Architecturally, the Cathedral differs from St. Petersburg's other structures. The Church contains over 7500 square meters of mosaics—according to its restorers, more than any other church in the world. The walls and ceilings inside the Church are completely covered in intricately detailed mosaics — the main pictures being biblical scenes or figures — but with very fine patterned borders setting off each picture. http://www.visit-petersburg.ru/en/showplace/195645/

Porvoo Museum is both a historical museum and an art museum. The two buildings in which it is housed date from the 1760s and stand on the edge of the square beside the Old Town Hall in the heart of the oldest part of Porvoo. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/porvoo-museum/

This private collection is open to the public during the summer months and to groups by arrangement throughout the year. One of the best toy museums in the country, exhibiting a large number of toys, all of which children have played with at some point in time. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/porvoo-doll-and-toy-museum/

Welcome to Finland’s oldest home museum! Come and enjoy the authentic atmosphere of the 1860s bourgeois home (kirjailijakoti) as guests of the Finnish national poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877) and his wife Fredrika (1807-1879). The museum’s unique atmosphere is created by furniture, works of art, dishes and old house plants, many of which have been grown from Fredrika’s cuttings. During the summer season you can discover the floral splendour of the house’s carefully restored garden. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/j-l-runebergs-home/

The Moomin Museum brings a touch of magic from Tove Jansson’s Moominland Midwinter to Terminal 1 at Tampere-Pirkkala airport. https://muumimuseo.fi/en/

The city of Tampere bought the building and named it Näsilinnaksi. It was handed over to the oldest museum in Tampere, the Häme Museum. The first exhibitions opened in 1908. http://museomilavida.fi/museo-milavida/milavida/

Vapriikki is housed in what used to be the engineering works of Tampella Ltd. on the banks of the Tammerkoski Rapids. With a picturesque location beside the Tammerkoski rapids, Vapriikki is a museum centre that offers things to see and do for the whole family. We host about a dozen exhibitions, with varied themes, including history, technology, and natural sciences. Vapriikki is also home to the Natural History Museum of Tampere, the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, the Shoe Museum, and the Doll Museum. In autumn 2014, the Postal Museum and the Tampere Mineral Museum will also open their doors at Vapriikki. Our visitors are served by museum restaurant Valssi and the Vapriikki museum shop, which offers a wide selection of books, gifts, and souvenirs. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/museum-centre-vapriikki/

Take a little virtual tour of the museum. It takes you to some of the houses on the block and informs you of the museum’s construction process. You will also be told how the workers’ residential are Amuri came into existence. http://www.museokortteli.fi/en/

he Sara Hildén Art Museum, which is the permanent home of the collection of modern art, Finnish and foreign, owned by the Sara Hildén Foundation, is maintained by the City of Tampere. Sara Hildén Foundation Collection currently amounts to some 4500 works. It is thus a comprehensive collection which presents a broad cross section of the development in modern art over the last forty years. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/sara-hilden-art-museum/

The Tampere Art Museum was established in 1931. It was founded by the Tampere Art Society which had already been collecting art and arranging art exhibitions in Tampere since the beginning of the last century. The museum is renowned for its active exhibition policy, especially exhibitions presenting ancient cultures, wide-ranging publication activities, the Young Artist of the Year event and Moominvalley, which can be found in the city main library “Metso”. The Tampere Art Museum presents important themes from art history and phenomena of contemporary art in both its Finnish and international exhibitions. The museum’s collections consist mainly of domestic art from the early 19th century onwards. https://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/tampere-art-museum/

The Oulu Museum of Art’s changing exhibitions focuses on topical contemporary art without forgetting local and regional perspectives. The art museum’s second floor is home to themed collections. Visit our website to find out more about our broad variety of public events and workshops. Our museum shop, Ainoa, offers a range of top-quality, distinctive gift items and interior decoration products for people of all ages. The Oulu Museum of Art is one of the Museum and Science Centre Luuppi sites. https://visitoulu.fi/en/tuote/oulu-museum-of-art-2/

The Northern Ostrobothnia museum (Pohjois-Pohjanmaan Museo in Finnish) was founded in 1896 by the Museum Society which donated the museum to the City of Oulu in 1969. The museum’s region of interest is the City of Oulu and Northern Ostrobothnia of Finland. The culturally historic county museum is located in Ainola Park. The building is designed by architect Oiva Kallio and completed in 1931. http://www.discoveringfinland.com/destination/northern-ostrobothnia-museum/

The Kierikki Stone Age Centre will take you on a journey back in time. A Stone Age Village complete with habitations will show you what daily life was like on the banks of the River Ii thousands of years ago. An easy-to-walk boarded walkway leads from the village and its neighbouring snare path to the Kierikki Stone Age Centre, where you can learn more about Stone Age life and artefacts through films and an exhibition. The Stone Age Village has been constructed on the basis of data from archaeological digs. These types of villages were located in the Kierikki area, in the delta of the River Ii, as long as 5,000-6,000 years ago. The village contains different types of buildings, mainly single-room houses but also large terraced buildings. There are fire sites around the houses, and a river running past the village. The inhabitants rowed in flat-bottom boats made from single tree trunks. https://visitoulu.fi/en/tuote/kierikki-stone-age-centre/

Narva Museum today – it is the Narva stronghold, the Northern Courtyard, and the Art Gallery. These are more than architectural monuments, as the castle and the gallery also have exhibition halls. The exhibition of Narva castle talks about the history of Narva from the 13th century until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1991, the Art Gallery was opened. This allowed the museum to host Estonian and foreign art exhibitions in addition to displaying its own art collection. In 2007, Põhjaõu was opened as a new tourist attraction in the Northern Courtyard of the castle; this is how Narva Museum interprets the district of artisans dating from the 17th century. https://www.visitestonia.com/en/narva-museum-1

The Ateneum is Finland’s best-known art museum and the home of Finnish art. The images held by the Ateneum are ingrained in the collective memory of the Finnish people: the beloved works in Ateneum’s collections date from the period from the 19th century to the modern age. http://www.visithelsinki.fi/en/see-and-experience/sights-and-attractions/ateneum-art-museum