Western Finland history and museum road trip
I took a week holiday at July and made a photography road trip to Souther and Western Finland historic locations and museums.
Total of 1400 kilometres, 6 days, 10 museums, 2 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 5 castles, 3 hill forts and 10 medieval churches.
It was very fun trip! Here’s a roundup of the best and most interesting historic locations near Hanko, Turku, Rauma, Tampere and Hämeenlinna. Great places to visit to every history enthusiast like myself 🙂
Bengtskär lighthouse
Bengtskär lighthouse (Finnish: Bengtskärin majakka) is the tallest lighthouse in the Nordic countries, located at Baltic sea, south of Hanko. It is the southernmost inhabited part of Finland. Bengtskär lighthouse was built at 1906 and there was large battle during Continuation War between Finnish and Soviet troops 1941. Read more about Bengtskär from their website >
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- Bengtskär is a small rocky island.
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- Bengtskär is a popular tourist attraction.
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- Bengtskär lighthouse is 52 meters tall above sea level
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- You can get to Bengtskär with boat only of course 😉
Castles, ruins and hillforts
There are many interesting medieval castles at Finland, like Raseborg Castle (Finnish: Raaseporin linna, Swedish: Raseborg slott), Turku Castle (Finnish: Turun linna, Swedish: Åbo slott) and Häme Castle (Finnish: Hämeen linna, Swedish: Tavastehus slott). There are also historic and archeological locations, like Grabbacka fort ruins (Finnish: Grabbackan rauniolinna) and Kuusisto Castle (Finnish: Kuusiston piispanlinna, Swedish: Kustö biskopsborg).
I also visited (and photographed) three older (iron age) hillforts which have very beautiful views, Old Castle of Lieto (Liedon Vanhalinna) near Turku, Hakoinen Castle (Hakoisten linnavuori) in Janakkala and Rapola Castle (Rapolan linnavuori) in Valkeakoski, near Tampere.
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- Turku Castle (Turun linna) was found in the late 13th century.
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- Raseborg castle (Raaseporin linnanrauniot) ruins
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- Häme Castle (Hämeen linna)
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- Kuusisto Castle was a medieval episcopal castle near Turku
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- Kuusisto Castle was a medieval episcopal castle near Turku
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- Grabbacka castle / manor ruins (Grabbackan linnanrauniot)
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- Lieto hill fort (Liedon Vanhalinna) was destroyed in the beginning of the 14th century.
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- View from top of the Old Castle of Lieto (Liedon Vanhalinna hill fort
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- Rapola Castle (Rapolan linnavuori) Valkeakoski
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- View from top of the Hakoinen Castle (Janakkala)
UNESCO locations: Old Rauma and Sammallahdenmäki bronze age burial site
Old Rauma (Finnish: Vanha Rauma, Swedish: Gamla Raumo) is well-preserved Scandinavian wooden town and one of the oldest cities in Finland.
Sammallalähdenmäki bronze age burial size (Finnish: Sammallahdenmäen pronssikautiset röykkiöhaudat) is one of the most important Bronze Age sites in Fennoscandia. Sammallähdenmäki includes about 40 granite burial cairns dating back over 3,000 years and it is the first archeological monument from Finland inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1999.
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- Old Rauma (Vanha Rauma) wooden city center.
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- Old Rauma (Vanha Rauma) wooden city center.
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- Bronze age burial site in Rauma
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- Bronze age burial site in Rauma
Religious historic locations
In Finland, there are lots of medieval stone churches built during catholic era. And talking about Catholicism, there is one Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in Finland: Saint Henry’s Island (Finnish: Kirkkokari) in Kyöliö, where – according the legends – first bishop of Finland was murdered by Lalli.
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- Kirkkokari in Lake Kyöliö (Kyöliönjärvi). You can get there with a rowing boat.
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- Chapel ruins and altar at Kirkkokari for murdered bishop Piispa Henrik.
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- Turku Cathedral (Turun tuomiokirkko) circa 1300.
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- Turku Cathedral (Turun tuomiokirkko) interior, circa 1300.
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- Sääksmäki church (Sääksmäen kirkko) Valkeakoski, circa 1495
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- Tenhola Church (Tenholan Kirkko) Raasepori, circa 1470.
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- Perniö church (Pyhän Laurin kirkko) circa 1460-1480
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- Mynämäki church (Mynämäen Pyhän Laurin kirkko) circa 1425
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- Laitila church (Laitilan Pyhän Mikaelin kirkko) circa 1480
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- Naantali church (Naantalin harmaakivikirkko), circa 1480-1500
Museum and exhibition tips
To name a few historic and art museums I also visited and would love to recommend were
- Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova in Turku. Museum of history and contemporary art [archeological findings and art]
- Louhisaari Manor (Louhisaaren kartano) in Askainen. Famous for it’s owners; Fleming and Mannerheim families.
- Vapriikki in Tampere. Several museums under same roof and interesting exhibitions like Forbidden City and Birckala 1017.