The Karuna church
1686 timber without nails.
Volker von Bonin — CC BY 4.0 · Volker von Bonin — CC BY 4.0 · Volker von Bonin — CC BY 4.0 · Volker von Bonin — CC BY 4.0
A forested island where old rural Finland lives on: Seurasaari west of the city is reached by a white timber bridge, and since 1909 it has held eighty-seven buildings moved from every Finnish region — timber farms with smoke rooms, the Karuna church of 1686, storehouses on stilts, a church boat seating a hundred rowers, and landowners' houses with their furniture. Guides in traditional dress demonstrate crafts in summer — and on Midsummer night in June the great bonfire is lit on the shore in Helsinki's most famous folk celebration. The island's squirrels are tame enough to eat from the hand. The island itself is a free public park year-round with shores and paths; the museum (the buildings) opens in summer only. Two hours with a picnic, and bus 24 from the centre ends at the bridge.
1686 timber without nails.
A hundred rowers to mass across the lake.
Eating from the hand on the paths.
Seurasaari, Helsinki
Tamminiemi — President Kekkonen's HouseTamminiemi is a timber villa on the water in western Helsinki where President **5 minutes walk4.4
The Didrichsen Art MuseumThe Didrichsen Museum stands on the small island of **Kuusisaari** west of Helsi20 minutes walk4.6
Sibelius MonumentSix hundred steel pipes hanging in the air: Eila Hiltunen's Sibelius Monument (121 minutes walk4.5The year's longest night in late June, Finland's greatest summer festival: shore bonfires, dancing and a traditional wedding staged at Seurasaari before thousands.