Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
building of new walls. It never saw serious military action and, after the Russian takeover
of 1809, was converted into a jail.
The interior has a modern exhibition annexe, displaying period costumes and furniture,
tacked on to the original bare-roomed building. Multilingual guided tours are on offer -
book them ahead outside of summer.
Vankilamuseo
MUSEUM
(
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
;
03-621-2977;
www.hameenlinna.fi
;
adult/child €6/2; 11am-5pm Tue-
Sun)
Häme Castle's old cellblock, last used in 1993, has been converted into a prison museum
where you can visit a solitary confinement cell or see graffiti left by former inmates. Most
interesting are three cells left more or less as they were when the inmates departed, along
with a brief description of their occupants' crime and lifestyle. There's also a sauna, where
prisoners would sometimes violently settle disputes.
Museo Militaria
MUSEUM
May, 10am-6pm Jun-Aug)
There are numerous museums devoted to Finnish involvement in WWII, but this takes the
cake. It's huge. There are three floors packed with war memorabilia, including good in-
formation in English on the beginnings of the Winter War. Outside, and in a separate hall,
is a collection of phallic heavy artillery big enough to start a war on several fronts.
Hämeenlinnan Taidemuseo
GALLERY
Thu, 11am-5pm Fri-Sun)
Housed in a former granary designed by CL Engel, the town gallery has an interesting col-
lection of Finnish art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Notable is Gallen-Kallela's paint-
ing of the
Kalevala'
s final scene, with the shaman Väinämöinen leaving Finland, repres-
enting the conquest of Christianity. A couple of Schjerfbecks include a
Rigoletto
painted
when she was just 19. The building opposite houses excellent temporary exhibitions.
