Red houses
An old farm.
Håkan Skogsjö — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Håkan Skogsjö — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Håkan Skogsjö — CC BY-SA 4.0
Jan Karlsgården is an open-air museum near Kastelholm Castle in the municipality of Sund in Finland's Åland Islands, about 17 km in a straight line north-east of Mariehamn. It is made up of rural buildings moved here from different parts of the islands. It was modelled on the Skansen museum in Stockholm, aiming to show Åland's traditional building and living culture, sell handicrafts and hold celebrations in the old way. The first buildings, a pair of windmills, arrived in 1931, followed in 1934 by the main house that gave the museum its name. Today it has more than twenty red-painted wooden buildings that recreate an Åland farm of the late 19th century: the farmhouse, storehouses, stables and sheds for cows, oxen and sheep, with the sauna and smithy set a little apart. Since the 1940s a midsummer pole has been raised here every summer, and it hosts the islands' biggest Christmas market. The grounds can be visited all year, but the buildings only open inside in summer. It combines easily with neighbouring Kastelholm Castle in one visit.
An old farm.
A yearly tradition.
Next door.
Kastelholm, Sund, Åland
The grounds are; the buildings open inside only in summer.
Kastelholm Castle.
