|
The number one tourist attraction in Pertunmaa is the Vanha-Rantala House
Museum, which is located near downtown Pertunmaa. Besides the main building,
the museum also has the storehouses and sauna from the farm. All of the
buildings are in their original locations.
The Vanha-Rantala farm has had a colourful life. The farm belonged to the same
family from 1665 to 1964. The last full-time resident of the house moved out
in 1958. From 1934 to 1936, the house served as a lower elementary school and
from 1947 to 1948 as a travelling cottage-industry institute for women. The
house was converted into a museum in 1968 and the Perttu Foundation was
originally responsible for running it. In 1988, the municipality of Pertunmaa
acquired the museum and started taking care of it.
The main room of the main building was built in the 18th century and is
decorated in the peasant style. One corner of the main room has a milk room in
which milk was processed. The main room has items related to the everyday life
in a farmhouse on display.
In the house's newer wing, built in the 19th century, are a drawing room and
two bedrooms, whose furnishings are from the house. The womenfolk of this
house were considered to be quite skilled at handicrafts. On display are
textiles from the first few decades of the 20th century, etc. The floor of the
drawing room is covered in rugs that have been woven from horsehair. The
furniture reveals the craftwork of the menfolk in the house.
The farm storehouses also have exhibitions that talk about the processing of
flax, etc.
In 1928, grave ruins were found near Vanha-Rantala. Tests showed that it was
the grave of a rich woman from approximately 1000 A.D. The grave artefacts are
on display at the National
Museum of Finland, but the main building at Vanha-Rantala has a
small-scale archaeological exhibition and a monument to the grave find was
erected in 1973 in the yard.
Besides Vanha-Rantala, the Pertunmaa town hall also has a room dedicated to
local history.
|