The Museum is a prominent sight in a beautiful riverside setting. The highlight of the yard is the main building of the former village of Riesto, saved before the Lokka reservoir was created.
At the Museum, you can encounter a piece of the Lapland that has vanished.
For summer visitors to Sodankylä, the Museum is one of the best places to see. The Museum is a short walk from the town center in a beautiful setting at the confluence of two large rivers, the Kitinen and the Jeesiöjoki. There is a large car park outside the gate for motorists.
The Museum is open in the summer and entry is free. The staff on site will be happy to show you the Museum and its collection. A tour of the Museum will give you a good understanding of the old home, village and working culture of the Sodankylä area.
You can load an application called Sompio to your phone or tablet to guide you at the museum. However application doesn´t support the latest Android and iOs versions. App has basic museum tour in Finnish, English, France and German as well as some additional augmented reality to enhance your museum experience.
The yard contains several old buildings in good condition which have been brought to the Museum from all over Sodankylä. The main building is the Kuukkeli house, built in 1906 and from the village of Riesto, which was covered by the Lokka reservoir. It was moved from there to the Museum by joint local efforts in the 1960s before the reservoir was created.
A yard area that was typical of the time has been constructed around the main building, which includes a warehouse, a smoke sauna and lean-to, a livestock shed, the granaries of the Penjus and Erkkilä families, a threshing cabin and barns. In addition, several other buildings connected to traditional occupations in Sodankylä have been transported to the Museum, such as a smithy, a Saami house, a calving shed, granaries and the central part of a reindeer fence, the “churn”.
The buildings display a large number of objects from old Lapland.
The Museum area is only accessible when the Museum is open.