Seurasaari ( sv, Fölisön) is an island and a district in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, 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. Squirrel in Seurasaari autumn

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 squirrel The red squirrel (''Sciurus vulgaris'') is a species of tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' common throughout Europe and Asia. The red squirrel is an arboreal, primarily herbivorous rodent. In Great Britain, Ireland, and in Italy numbe ...

s and

hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The g ...

s. The height of the island's popularity is at

Midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian martyr ...

, when a huge bonfire ( fi, juhannuskokko, sv, 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 and is subject to a fee.

Gallery

File:The Granary at Seurasaari.jpg, The Granary, built in the North-Ostrobothnian style. File:Water Mill at Seurasaari.jpg, The Water Mill. File:Tree Storehouse at Seurasaari.jpg, The Tree Storehouse from

Petsamo Petsamo may refer to: * Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922 * Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland * Pechengsky District Pechengsky District (russian: Пе́ченгский райо́н; fi, Petsamo; no, Peisen ...

File:Utsjoki Storehouse at Seurasaari.jpg, Storehouse from

Utsjoki Utsjoki (; sme, Ohcejohka ; smn, Uccjuuhâ; sms, Uccjokk; no, Utsjok) is a municipality in Finland, the northernmost in the country. It is in Lapland and borders Norway as well as the municipality of Inari. The municipality was founded in 18 ...

File:Utsjoki Hay-Cabin.jpg, Hay Cabin from

File:Niemelä tenant farm (Niemelän torppa) Seurasaari.jpg, Niemelä tenant farm. File:Building at Niemala Tenant Farm.jpg, Building at Niemelä tenant farm. File:Apotropaic pentagram at Niemala.jpg, Apotropaic mark on a farmhouse from Niemelä Tenant Farm File:Pertinotsa 1.jpg, Pertinotsa farmhouse. File:A wind mill at Seurasaari.jpg, Farm windmill File:Cloth and Food Stores at Seurasaari.jpg, Clothes and food stores. File:Midsummer Pole at Seurasaari.jpg, A Midsummer pole based on examples found at Eckerö in

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...

References

External links

The Seurasaari Open-Air Museum

The Seurasaari Foundation
Meilahti Islands of Helsinki Museums in Helsinki Open-air museums in Finland Folk museums in Europe Geography of Helsinki Islands of Uusimaa {{SouthernFinland-geo-stub

Gallery

See also

References

External links