Located in the village of Lyytikkälä at Suomenniemi, near Highway 13, the Lyytikkälä Museum Farm comprises one of South Karelia’s best preserved complete farming estates. A former 18th century “augment” or a farm which paid its land tax to a rustholli estate (a larger farm under obligation to equip a cavalryman), Lyytikkälä Farm was purchased as an independent hereditary estate in 1859. It remained with the same family for well over 250 years.
Along with its courtyard, buildings and their contents, Lyytikkälä Farm was purchased by the Finnish National Board of Antiquities and Historical Monuments in 1984, and transferred into State ownership. Opened to the public in 1989, the museum is managed by the Board, in partnership with Lyytikkälä Museum Farm Foundation. In 2002, the Lyytikkälä Museum Farm was voted South Karelia’s ‘Local Museum of the Year’.
During the 1960s, three ethnographic films were shot on Lyytikkälä Farm: ‘Summer in Suomenniemi – Summer jobs on the farm’ (1962); ‘Autumn in Suomenniemi – Autumn jobs on the farm’ (1962); and ‘Winter in Suomenniemi – Winter jobs on the farm’ (1963). The films, which focus on the traditional agricultural working methods, can be seen in the cafeteria.
Entrance fee 2€ for adults.