Farmstead museums tell about life in the past

Every municipality of Taikayöntie has a farmstead museum that showcases the agricultural and farming life of the past.

Yli-Kirra Museum

Located in Punkalaidun, Yli-Kirra Museum is one of the must-see attractions in the Taikayöntie region. Comprides of a total of 36 buildings and structures, Yli-Kirra represents typical courtyard-style construction of 19th century Satakunta farms. Years ago, Yli-Kirra also impressed the widely known children’s author Mauri Kunnas, who modelled his Doghill House after Yli-Kirra.

The buildings of Yli-Kirra are centred around a courtyard and a farmyard. The five-hectare museum area features several 19th century farm buildings including a drying barn, blacksmith’s forge and granary, a cottar area and a hunting area showcasing old hunting methods. There is a separate area that demonstrates the mechanisation of 20th century farming and a hall exhibiting the development of grain harvesting from a sickle to a combine harvester. Yli-Kirra offers guided tours of the area and the museum also has a cosy café.

The first weekend of June and July, Yli-Kirra hosts the idyllic traditional agricultural exhibition Kaikkien Aikojen Maatalousnäyttely, with programme comprising showcases of old-time farming equipment and dozens of demonstrations. The museum staff and volunteers are dressed in traditional agricultural clothes. The event offers something to see and experience for the whole family.

Address and inquiries: Koiramäentie 2, 31900 Punkalaidun. Email: ylikirra(at)koiramaentalo.fi, tel. +358 40 1990 680. Open weekends in June, July and August. Otherwise by reservation.

Huittinen Museum

With its culture-historically significant location right next to the church, the Huittinen Museum offers an opportunity to get acquainted with local farming culture through an expansive and diverse collection of items. The museum is located in a building that was built as a granary in 1902 and that is made out of stone mined from local Ripovuori rock.

Specialities of the museum include textiles crocheted by the weaver Siina Rinne (1859–1940), a collection of more than 600 knives and an exact replica of the prehistoric elk’s head sculpture. The Elk’s Head of Huittinen, found in 1903, is 7,000 years old and the best known relic in Finland.

The museum also includes exhibitions of former Finnish president Risto Ryti, originally from Huittinen, a collection of works by sculptor Lauri Leppänen and the outsider art sculptures of Hugo Kivinen, a Huittinen native.

Adress and inquiries: Kirkkotie 4, 32700 Huittinen. Tel. +358 44 560 4319. 

Urjala Museum

Set on an idyllic hill in Urjalankylä village, along Taikayöntie route Urjala Museum exhibits the lifestyle of Tavastian peasants of the 19th century and small-scale farmers and craftspeople of the 1940s. The eight buildings of the museum were moved to the location from different parts of Urjala and the items have been donated. The buildings include a late 18th century farmhouse, decorated to represent a late 19th century lifestyle, a soldier’s equipment shed built in the 17th century and a fully functional windmill from the late 19th century. The annuity building is home to a 1940s rocking chair craftsman and his family.

The yard also includes Karhukorsu, a replica of the dugout used by infantry regiment 23 on the shore of lake Syväri.

The museum is open on arrangement and during the summer according to opening hours provided on the website of the municipality of Urjala.

Adress and inquiries: Museotie 14, 31720 Urjala. Tel. +358 40 335 4374