A farmyard straight from the 19th century
The Ränkimäki Homestead Museum dates back to the 1930s when a push to collect items for museum preservation began in Lapua. However, the actual museum grounds themselves were not put together until after the Winter and Continuation Wars, mostly during the early 1950s. The museum was built at Ränkimäki, which was also the site of a Russian gun position during the Finnish War in the early 19th century.
The Ränkimäki homestead as it is today was constructed out of around fifteen buildings that were moved there from locations across Lapua. The site has been turned into an open-air museum to represent a Finnish homestead of the era, but it was never an actual homestead in the form presented.
The first building to be moved to the museum was the windmill, but its oldest building is a blacksmith’s shop dating back to the 18th century, which itself was originally a smoke sauna.
The Ränkimäki Homestead Museum is maintained by the Lapua-Seura association (Lapua-Seura ry). The Lapua-Seura association also helps organise traditional country fairs in Alajoki, Lapua.
In July, the museum becomes the site of Lapua’s popular traditional role-play week and other heritage events.
