Helsinki's Seurasaari Island

Less than a half hour northwest of Helsinki's city centre lies Seurasaari Island.  You access it by a quaint bridge and once there you can easily wander for several hours. My pictures come from the summer of 2012, but my daughter-in-law assured us that traffic did not slow appreciably during the winter.  

 



The water is pretty chilly, but some folks do hit the beaches.

The Open Air Museum on Seurasaari Island features period buildings moved from the Finnish countryside to this wooded site for both preservation and ease of visibility.  There is a remarkable variety that runs the gamut from little 18th century follies to  sod roofed rural storage buildings.

Below a two leveled storage building and pretty obviously a windmill



One of the most impressive buildings was the Karuna Church.  Dating from the 1680's it is the oldest building in the Open Air Museum.

 

The structure is accessible and the interior is charming.

 

 

It contains a remarkable old pulpit and the strangest dismembered arm wall sconces I have ever seen.

 

And in this sancuary there's always room for a few more

 

 

 

Nearby are some storage sheds for large old church boats that used to be used to transport isolated coastal and lake dwellers to Sunday worship

 

 

A craft fair was going on and a number of native cottage industries were being demonstrated.  There were basketmakers,  weavers and knitters, pottery whistle makers, and even a female blacksmith.

 

 

A  smattering of this and that will finish up our tour.  The stark colors in this fine old stable with painted brickwork caught my eye.

 

This old telephone booth was cute.

 

I'd not seen this particular type of wood rail fencing before.

 

And this is the end of the line. Park your bike and head out into the pathless wilderness.