The Sagalund Museum, Kemiönsaari, Finland

The Sagalund Museum is one of the oldest and largest open-air museums in Finland. It consists of 26 historically valuable buildings with about 70 authentic room interiors. Among them are a courthouse from the 18th century and an old school from1649. There’s also a library with e.g. studies of Linné.

References:

museot.fi

User Reviews

Janne Laakio (2 months ago)
Mahtava lounas ,hieno paiķka

roger stark (2 months ago)
God lunch, intressant utbud av varor. Lönar sig att bekanta sig med och besöka utställningar och happenings.

Pentti Vähätalo (4 months ago)
Tässä kauniissa, nykypäivää vahvasti elävässä, menneen ajan miljöössä aika pysähtyy. Ja mikä ihana, täysi lounas alkuruokakeittoineen, salaatteineen, lämpimineruokineen ja efterräätteineen.

Luise_Erpenbeck (2 years ago)
A paradise for children (and their parents) - and incredibly nice staff! We spent the day at Sagalund today with our two younger children and were completely overwhelmed with everything the place had to offer. We stopped by more or less accidentally and did not expect to find such a huge place with so much to offer. We paid 7 Euros per adult (children are free) and were immediately offered a free guided tour of the whole area. While waiting for the tour we played in the little children's barn, filled with the most lovely toys (a puppet theater and lots of dress-up costumes, just to name a few) and in the children's hospital in the 1st floor of the main building. We were amazed at all the detail that had been put into the decoration, the costumes etc. Everything was arranged in such a loving and thoughtful way! For example, there were about 5 nurses/doctors costumes for children, in a somewhat antique style, which our children just loved, plus lots of genuinely old utensils such as an antique extendable children's bed, an old scale etc. all of which the children were free to play with. Our guide was about 15 min late, which was absolutely no problem because the children were completely happy playing. However, when the tour was over, both children got a present from the shop as compensation for the delay, even when we insisted this was absolutely not necessary! The tour, by the way, was very good, even though the woman who gave it was not an experienced guide. I totally recommend taking a tour because some of the houses (the old school!) are locked otherwise. The buildings are wonderful. You get to visit two schools from different eras, several authentic houses from 1920 and the 1960s, a barn and, the highlight to the children, a tiny pavilion with toys for children. All lovingly assembled with many antique toys the children can play with, with apparently no fear of anything getting stolen or broken. My husband and I had a lovely time relaxing on the beautiful meadow underneath the apple trees while the children were exploring the barn. We also had lunch at Café Adele and liked it very much. There is a little buffet with one dish of the day (very tasty!), salad, rice, potatoes, bread etc. Also coffee and good cookies. All for 9 Euros per adult, 6,50 Euros per child. Many locals ate there or had coffee, which we took as a good sign. Lastly, the museum shop offers a ton of quaint and lovely toys for children and little souvenirs which are hard to find elsewhere. All in all, a wonderful place, well worth a days visit!

Mike Heath (3 years ago)
A very enjoyable indoor and outdoor museum. Amazingly few visitors on the day we visited. It would help with a bit more English.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright pablocabezos

Historic Site of the week

Royal Palace of Aranjuez

Palacio Real de Aranjuez is a former Spanish royal residence. It was established around the time Philip II of Spain moved the capital from Toledo to Madrid. Aranjuez became one of four seasonal seats of government, occupied during the springtime (from about holy week). Thereafter, the court moved successively to Rascafría, El Escorial and wintered in Madrid. Aranjuez Cultural Landscape is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After the Christian conquest, Aranjuez was owned by the Order of Santiago and a palace was built for its Grand Masters where the Royal Palace stands today. When the Catholic Monarchs assumed the office of Grand Master of the Order of Santiago, Aranjuez became part of the Royal estate. This fertile land, located between the Tajo and Jarama Rivers, was converted into the Spanish monarchy's most lavish country retreat: during Spain's Golden Age, Aranjuez became a symbol for the perfection of nature by mortal hands, as El Escorial was for art.

Such excellence was based on strong Renaissance foundations, as Charles V envisaged this inherited estate as a large Italian-inspired villa, a desire continued by Philip II who appointed Juan Bautista de Toledo to design leafy avenues that ran through the gardens and farming land. A series of dams was constructed in the 16th century to control the course of the Tajo River and create a network of irrigation canals.

The splendour of the estate was only enhanced by the Bourbon monarchs, who would spend the whole spring, from Easter to July, at the Palace. Phillip V added new gardens and Ferdinand VI designed a new system of tree-lined streets and created a small village within the estate, which was further developed by Charles III and Charles IV. As Ferdinand VII and Isabella II continued to visit Aranjuez during the spring, the splendour of this site was maintained until 1870.

The Royal Palace, built by Phillip II on the site of the old palace of the Grand Masters of Santiago, was designed by the architect Juan Bautista de Toledo –under whom construction began in 1564– and later Juan Herrera, who only managed to finish half the project. Although glimpses of the original layout still remain, the building itself is more characteristic of the classicism favoured by the Hapsburg monarchs, with alternating white stone and brick. The original design was continued by Phillip V in 1715 but not finished until 1752 under Ferdinand VI. The rectangular layout that Juan Bautista de Toledo had planned, and that took two centuries to complete, was only maintained for 20 years, since in 1775 Charles III added two wings onto the Palace.

Real Casa del Labrador

As the Prince of Asturias, Charles IV was a frequent visitor to the pier pavilions built by Ferdinand VI and grew up playing in the Prince’s Garden. When he became King, he decided to build a new country house at the far end of these gardens, known as the Casa del Labrador (the labourer's house) due to its modest exterior that was designed to heavily contrast the magnificent internal decor. It was built by chief architect Juan de Villanueva and his pupil Isidro González Velázquez, who designed some of the interior spaces. These rooms, developed in various stages until 1808, are the greatest example of the lavish interior decor favoured by this monarch in his palaces and country retreats. Highlights at this Site include the combination of different types of art and the luxurious textiles, in particular the silks from Lyon, as well as wealth of original works on the main floor, where Ferdinand VII added various paintings and landscapes by Brambilla.

King's Garden, the Island Garden, Parterre Garden and the Prince's Garden

Phillip II, a great lover of gardens, paid special attention to this feature of the Aranjuez Palace: during his reign, he maintained both the Island Garden, designed by the architect Juan Bautista de Toledo, and the King's Garden, immediately adjacent to the Palace and whose current layout was designed by Philip IV. The majority of the fountains on this island were commissioned by Phillip IV, while the Bourbons added other features such as the Charles III benches.

Phillip V made two French-style additions to the existing gardens: the Parterre Garden in front of the palace and the extension at the far end of the Island Garden, known as the Little Island, where he installed the Tritons Fountain that was later moved to the Campo del Moro park by Isabella II.

The Prince's Garden owes its name and creation to the son and heir of Charles III who, in the 1770s, began to use Ferdinand VI's old pier for his own enjoyment. He also created a landscaped garden in the Anglo-French style that was in fashion at the time and which was directly influenced by Marie Antoinette's gardens at the Petit Trianon. Both Juan de Villanueva and Pablo Boutelou collaborated in the design of this garden.

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