The Vanha-Rantala House Museum

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 cottageindustry 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.