Top Historic Sights in Salo, Finland
Explore the historic highlights of Salo
Mathildedal Ironworks
Mathildedal is one of the three Teijo area ironworks villages. It offers all the elements of an idyllic environment: Wooden houses painted with traditional red paint, buildings of the ironwork, history, culture, nature and of course the living village itself. The origins of Mathildedal ironworks go back to 1686. Mr Lorenz Creutz from Teijo was granted a right to build a forgery in Hummeldal. In 1825 Mr Robert Bremer dis ...Uskela Church
The Uskela parish is one of the oldest parishes in Finland. Documents mention it for the first time in 1329. The church hill of Uskela is an old location for the church, with a church at this location since 1440. The small medieval stone chapel, dedicated to St. Anna, was dismantled in 1830.The present church was completed in 1832. IIt was designed by famous architect C. L. Engel. The The belfry was erected in 1860. Insid ...Teijo Ironworks
Teijo ironworks was established in 1686 to the lands of old Teijo manor by Lorentz Creutz. The industrial work ended in 1908, but today there still exists old buildings, restaurant and fascinating manor building and park. The manor is privately owned, but you can walk the road adjacent to it. Teijo church on the hill near the manor is the smallest stone church in Finland. It was built in 1830.Wiurila Manor
Wiurila manor was first mentioned in history books in the 15th century. At that time, it was owned by Magnus Johansson till Wiorela. His daughter Elseby married Henrik Flemming and inherited Wiurila. For 300 years from that day on, the manor of Wiurila was inherited from mother to daughter. In 1787, baron and major general Magnus Wilhelm Armfelt bought Wiurila. His son Gustaf Mauritz inherited the manor of Joensuu, and h ...Teijo Manor
The history of manor house in Teijo dates back to the Middle Ages. In 1686 Lorent Creutz built an ironworks to Teijo and started industrial period of the town. The present Rococo style manor house was built in 1770 by Jakob Kijk, who was the owner of near ironworks site. It was designed by architect C. F. Schröder who also designed Fagervik and Lempisaari manor houses. There were also a church and shop located inside ...Halikko Church
The oldest record of church in Halikko is dated back to the year 1352. The wooden church was replaced probably approximately 1440. Original, two-aisle church was dedicated to St. Birgit. During the Reformation old chalk paintings were overpainted and church was left to dilapidate. Too small and dicky church was renovated and expanded in 1799 and again in 1813-1815. The old sacristy, weapons room and the tomb of famous nob ...Pertteli Church
The Pertteli Church was built probably between years 1500 and 1520 and was dedicated to St. Bartholomeus. First record of the local Uskela parish is from the 14th century and there has been at least one wooden church in Pertteli before. The original stone church was enlarged in the 18th and 19th centuries. Finnish National Board of Antiquities has named the ancient road ("Hiidentie") and the church area as national built ...Haapaniemi Castle
Haapaniemi castle was one of the oldest manor houses in Finland, first record of Haapaniemi dates back to year 1469. The castle manor was built probably between 1450-1525 by the powerful nobleman Henrik Klaunpoika Horn, who owned it until 1540s. After Horns Haapaniemi was owned by another famous noble family Fleming.The castle manor was ruined in the Great Wrath (1713-1721). Fiskars Ironworks bought manor properties in 17 ...Rikalanmäki
Rikalanmäki was one of the most remarkable Bronze and Iron Age towns in Finland. According legends, It was a very wealthy trading centre. The heyday of Rikalanmäki was in 11th and 12th centuries when Vikings and foreign merchants exchanged metals and weapons to fur from inner Finland. There are evidences of indirect trade connections even to the Arabic countries. According the legend Birger Jarl landed to the Ri ...Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings
Historic Site of the week
Les Invalides
Les Invalides is a complex of buildings containing museums and monuments, all relating to the military history of France, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, the building"s original purpose. The buildings house the Musée de l"Armée, the military museum of the Army of France, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs, and the Musée d"Histoire Contemporaine, as well as the burial site for some of France"s war heroes, notably Napoleon Bonaparte.
Louis XIV initiated the project in 1670, as a home and hospital for aged and unwell soldiers: the name is a shortened form of hôpital des invalides. The architect of Les Invalides was Libéral Bruant. The enlarged project was completed in 1676, the river front measured 196 metres and the complex had fifteen courtyards. Jules Hardouin Mansart assisted the aged Bruant, and the chapel was finished in 1679 to Bruant"s designs after the elder architect"s death.
Shortly after the veterans" chapel was completed, Louis XIV commissioned Mansart to construct a separate private royal chapel referred to as the Église du Dôme from its most striking feature. Inspired by St. Peter"s Basilica in Rome, the original for all Baroque domes, it is one of the triumphs of French Baroque architecture. The domed chapel is centrally placed to dominate the court of honour. It was finished in 1708.
Because of its location and significance, the Invalides served as the scene for several key events in French history. On 14 July 1789 it was stormed by Parisian rioters who seized the cannons and muskets stored in its cellars to use against the Bastille later the same day. Napoleon was entombed under the dome of the Invalides with great ceremony in 1840. In December 1894 the degradation of Captain Alfred Dreyfus was held before the main building, while his subsequent rehabilitation ceremony took place in a courtyard of the complex in 1906.
The building retained its primary function of a retirement home and hospital for military veterans until the early twentieth century. In 1872 the musée d"artillerie (Artillery Museum) was located within the building to be joined by the Historical Museum of the Armies in 1896. The two institutions were merged to form the present musée de l"armée in 1905. At the same time the veterans in residence were dispersed to smaller centres outside Paris. The reason was that the adoption of a mainly conscript army, after 1872, meant a substantial reduction in the numbers of veterans having the twenty or more years of military service formerly required to enter the Hôpital des Invalides. The building accordingly became too large for its original purpose. The modern complex does however still include the facilities detailed below for about a hundred elderly or incapacitated former soldiers.