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.
Vankilamuseo
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
3.88 MILES
Dating from the early 1300s, this Gothic-style church in a walled churchyard has an interior filled with fabulous naive frescoes created in the early 16th…
0.05 MILES
Hämeenlinna means Häme Castle, so it’s no surprise that this bulky, twin-towered, red-brick fortress is the town’s pride and most significant…
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0.33 MILES
Finland loves its house-museums and this is among the best, offering a wonderful insight into well-off 19th-century Finnish life, thanks to excellent…
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18.91 MILES
The residence of renowned sculptor Emil Wickström (1864–1942), Visavuori consists of three buildings, the oldest of which is Wickström's 1902 house, built…
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1.56 MILES
North of the town centre, this central-European-style park with ponds, swans, pavilions, a granite fortress and exotic trees was created early in the 20th…
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12.42 MILES
Established in 1881, this factory has huge kilns containing a total of 40 tonnes of molten glass kept at a temperature of 1450°C (2642°F). On weekdays, it…
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0.65 MILES
Housed in a former granary designed by CL Engel, the town gallery holds an interesting collection of Finnish art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Notable…
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0.47 MILES
Composer Johan Julius Christian (Jean) Sibelius was born in Hämeenlinna in 1865 and was schooled here, but the town makes surprisingly little fuss about…
Nearby attractions
0.05 MILES
Hämeenlinna means Häme Castle, so it’s no surprise that this bulky, twin-towered, red-brick fortress is the town’s pride and most significant…
0.11 MILES
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,…
0.33 MILES
Finland loves its house-museums and this is among the best, offering a wonderful insight into well-off 19th-century Finnish life, thanks to excellent…
0.47 MILES
Composer Johan Julius Christian (Jean) Sibelius was born in Hämeenlinna in 1865 and was schooled here, but the town makes surprisingly little fuss about…
0.49 MILES
Dating from 1798, this church in the town centre was designed by Louis Jean Depréz, court painter for King Gustav III of Sweden, and is modelled on the…
0.52 MILES
The ground floor of this newly opened museum in the former Skogster Department Store has a small theatrette where an excellent short film about the…
0.65 MILES
Housed in a former granary designed by CL Engel, the town gallery holds an interesting collection of Finnish art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Notable…
1.56 MILES
North of the town centre, this central-European-style park with ponds, swans, pavilions, a granite fortress and exotic trees was created early in the 20th…