Turkansaari Open Air Museum, Open-air museum in Madekoski, Finland.
Turkansaari is an open-air museum spread across three islands in the Oulujoki River, featuring buildings moved from their original locations around the region. The collection includes residential homes, farm buildings, and workshops that show how people lived and worked in Northern Finland.
The museum was founded in 1925 around a wooden church dating to 1694 that was relocated to the island. More buildings were gradually added over the decades to document how communities developed and changed across Northern Finland.
The collections display how people in Northern Finland once worked with fishing, forestry, and tar production as central parts of daily life. These practices shaped the regional identity and remain visible in how locals view their heritage.
The museum sits about 12 kilometers south of central Oulu and is accessible by car with parking available or by bicycle following the dedicated path. Summer months offer the best visiting conditions when all buildings are open and the islands are fully accessible on foot.
During Midsummer Week, visitors can watch traditional tar pit burning, a practice that once sustained entire communities through trade. This demonstration reveals how important tar production was to the regional economy for centuries.
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