Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum (, ; ''Cloister Hill Handicrafts Museum'') is an
open-air museum
An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum.
Definition
Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...
in
Turku
Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...
(),
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
.
Cloister Hill
This area of Cloister Hill was developed relatively late for pre-fire Åbo, from around 1775, after another fire. It was decided that the previously undeveloped, although not uninhabited, area to the south of Vartiovuori Hill would be developed as residential accommodation. The South of this area was less rocky and easier to build upon, so was developed first. Plots were surveyed officially, then the plot holder would develop within that plot as and when they saw fit. These first surveyed plots still form the boundaries within the current museum. Three plots: 158–160 appear on the maps of 1780, by 1800 171, 176, 178–189 are included and the 1808 map (the basis of the post-fire map illustrated) includes the whole extent of the museum site.
The original occupations of the first inhabitants are represented by the buildings now within the museum. Some were building trades, such as carpenters and a
stonemason
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...
, and probably built their own properties. The plot would be fenced in and a simple cottage with a stove and baking oven built. Other buildings might be provided for domestic animals. In time, the buildings would expand around the perimeter of the plot, enclosing a courtyard.
The museum
The museum consists of 18 blocks of original 18th-century – early 19th-century buildings on their original location. The area of the museum was the only old residential area left in 1940, when the museum was opened. The location was the largest area to completely survive the
Great Fire of Turku
The Great Fire of Turku (; ; ) was a conflagration in the city of Turku in 1827. It is still the largest urban fire in the history of Finland and the Nordic countries. The city had faced several large fires before, including an especially devast ...
.
The idea for the museum was put forward in a local newspaper article as early as 1908, after the oldest part of Cloister Hill had been demolished – now the street of Sirkkalankatu. The idea was rejected for nearly 30 years, until the city's new museum committee was convinced to create a museum in the style of
Den Gamle By
Den Gamle By (lit. "The Old Town") is an open-air town museum located in the Aarhus Botanical Gardens, in central Aarhus, Denmark. In 1914, the museum opened as the Denmark's first open-air museum of its kind, concentrating on town culture rath ...
, an earlier museum in
Aarhus
Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
, Denmark. Nine blocks formed the original museum, the others being added in 1956. Expansion has continued since, with more buildings having their interiors refitted for display. On their addition to the museum, the houses were still decorated in the contemporary fashion of the 1930s. They were carefully recorded, then the interiors refitted to the style of the Great Fire period. This often involved removing ceilings of
tongue and groove
Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. A strong joint, it allows two flat pieces to be joined strongly together to mak ...
boards, or the restoration of open fireplaces. Some residents remained living in the museum area even after it opened, the last, Hilma Mäenpää, remaining there until her death in 1982.
The museum received the Golden Apple
international tourism
International tourism is tourism that crosses national borders. Globalization has made tourism a popular global leisure activity. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual ...
award as the only site in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
in 1984.
See also
*
Qwensel House
The Qwensel House is the oldest wooden house in Turku, Finland. It is bourgeois housing from the autarchic times that has survived in its entirety. The house was built approximately in the year 1700 in an area that was reserved for the nobility ...
, the apothecary museum in Turku
References
*
External links
Luostarinmäki Handicrafts Museum
Open-air museums in Finland
Finnish handicrafts
Museums in Turku
{{Finland-struct-stub