Seurasaari

Midsummer bonfire, Seurasaari

Seurasaari (Swedish: Fölisön) is an island and a district in Helsinki, Finland, known mostly as the location of the Seurasaari Open-Air Museum, which consists of old, mainly wooden buildings transplanted from elsewhere in Finland and placed in the dense forest landscape of the island.

Every summer, many Helsinkians come to Seurasaari to enjoy the rural, peaceful outdoor atmosphere. Despite the visitors, the island has a variety of wildlife, especially birds, but also red squirrels and hares. The height of the island's popularity is at Midsummer, when a huge bonfire (Finnish: juhannuskokko, Swedish: midsommareld) is built on a small isle just off the island's coast, and ignited by a newlywed couple. Thousands of people, both tourists and Helsinkians, watch the burning of the bonfire from both Seurasaari itself and from boats anchored near it.

Seurasaari also includes one of only two nudist beaches in Helsinki and one of only three in the entire country. Unlike the other nudist beaches, the beach is segregated for men and women separately with no unisex nudist area.

Gallery

• The Granary at Seurasaari.jpg

  The Granary, built in the North-Ostrobothnian style.

• Water Mill at Seurasaari.jpg

  The Water Mill.

• Tree Storehouse at Seurasaari.jpg

  The Tree Storehouse from Petsamo

• Utsjoki Storehouse at Seurasaari.jpg

  Storehouse from Utsjoki

• Utsjoki Hay-Cabin.jpg

  Hay Cabin from Utsjoki

• Niemelä tenant farm (Niemelän torppa) Seurasaari.jpg

  Niemelä tenant farm.

• Building at Niemala Tenant Farm.jpg

  Building at Niemelä tenant farm.

• 

  Apotropaic marking on a farmhouse from Niemalä Tenant Farm

• 

  Pertinotsa farmhouse.

• A wind mill at Seurasaari.jpg

  Farm windmill

• Cloth and Food Stores at Seurasaari.jpg

  Clothes and food stores.

• Midsummer Pole at Seurasaari.jpg

  A Midsummer pole based on examples found at Eckerö in the Åland Islands.

See also

• Architecture of Finland

External links

• The Seurasaari Open-Air Museum
• The Seurasaari Foundation