Svartå Manor
Svartå manor is one of Finland's most valuable mansions, with over 200 year-old history. Today the manor serves as a museum and hotel. The surrounding castle park with sculptures, plantations and a lake is also a wonderful resting place for visitors. Therefore, it is no surprise that the castle is also a very popular place to arrange weddings.
Svartå Manor is one of the most precious manor houses in Finland with a history of more than two hundred years. Nowadays the manor house is a museum, and the interior is restored to its original state with its different tiled stoves, Gustavian furniture and of course the original parquet floors.
It was built between 1783 and 1792 by Magnus Linder II. The manor house is the largest non-ecclesiastic wooden building in Finland. The architecture is a mix of the two consecutive styles rococo and neo-classicism and the Gustavian style dominates the interior. Special features in the main building are the parquet floors, one made in four kinds of wood and on the second floor is a unique bedroom where one king (Gustav III) and two emperors (Alexander I and Alexander II of Russia) have slept.
Probably the most glorious time in Svartå Manor was during the ownership of Hjalmar Linder in the first years of 1900. He owned altogether 64 000 hectares of land and one of the first cars in Finland, which he brought here in 1902. Among others the Swedish painter Louis Sparre and the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius were Hjalmar Linder’s guests in Svartå.
Beauty is in the lead in the garden of the manor house
The wooden castle is embedded in one of the biggest private historical parks of Finland. Originally it was designed as a baroque park in 1787 but in the late 19th century Friedolf Linder renewed the park into an English style of park. He planted many exotic trees from all over the world, which are unusual species for Finland.
The park is nowadays a retreat for the soul with its winding paths, romantic bridges, statues, follies and the unique water lily path over the water. The park and the castle are situated close to the old picturesque village of Svartå, which was an iron foundry village from the late 16th century. Many traditional red and yellow houses are left from the times of the ironworks.
Guided tours to the park and the ironworks village are provided. It is also possible to explore the area on your own, since it is free of charge to enter the premises. There is a high-quality restaurant and hotel in the area, saunas, and some of the finest and most unique conference facilities in Finland. Cooking courses in the Svartå Culinary Academy are also provided. Svartå Manor also hosts a popular summer theatre in Finnish and a number of other events throughout the year.
Reservations, info and prices; www.mustionlinna.fi, info@mustionlinna.fi / +358(0)19 36231.
Webshop; shop.mustionlinna.fi.
