Description: Lohja is a pleasant enough town situated to the north of a huge lake. To the north of the centre there are forests with walking trails and when we were there the woods were filled with the aroma of wild mushrooms.

The lake also attracts walkers and the scenery is beautiful but what I did not realize at the time is that deep below the lake something is going on! Under the town and the lake there are more than 60 kilometres of tunnels created by and for the mining of limestone. Mining has been going on at the Lohjan kalkkitehdas (Lohja Limestone Plant) since 1897 and this area was chosen partly because it has such plentiful deposits of limestone but also because it has access to good transport links and benefits from being able to source cheap fuel locally from saw mills.

At one point the mines employed hundreds of local men, now only a handful work here although around 33 million tons of limestone is quarried every year. While the mining goes on at one part of the plant, visitors can go underground to the first mines used and see an exhibition covering the history of the mines, examples of the equipment used throughout the years and information explaining the uses and processing of limestone. At the end of the tour there is a sound and light show in the largest fully underground quarry created by the mining.

Only guided tours are available and are in Finnish unless you make arrangements in advance. If you are in the area for a few days it might be worth contacting the tourist information office to find out whether you could join a tour in the language of your choice.

At weekends - when we visited - we were the only non-Finnish visitors but the guide cheerfully translated what she had said into English for us. We didn't get to know as much as the Finnish visitors but it was still helpful and interesting. In the main par of the mine there are boards at each point of the tour that are in English and Finnish so it really doesn't matter that much if there is only a Finnish tour going on when you visit.

The tour begins at the little information office. First you must pick out a hard hat to wear - they come in all colours and sizes but do make sure it is comfortable because you'll be wearing it for the best part of ninety minutes. You also need to wear fairly sturdy footwear and something very warm in winter months, quite warm at other times.

First you get to see the old entrance to the mine; alas the hydraulic wagons no longer work but there are stairs and at the end of the tour you can, if you wish, make your way back to the office by the stairs. From the office it looks a long way down but something more dramatic is to come.

From here the whole group goes across the car park to a new building that houses not only banquet and conference facilities (apparently this is THE place in Lohja for wedding parties) but the high tech lift that takes you to the first level where you can see where that staircase ended and this was the first place where mining was carried out. Outside the lit at this levee is an exhibition relating to Kone Oy (did you know they are a Finnish company? I didn't) who use this site to test new engineering. They use a remote part of the mine where they have two lift shafts and the constant temperature and lack of interfering vibrations apparently make this an ideal place for them to do their testing. Anyway, should lift technology interest you, these exhibition highlights notable buildings around the world that have Kone Oy elevators.

Another ride in the lift takes you down to 110 metres and the museum proper. There are warm coats hanging next to the lift for visitors who have not come adequately dressed; the temperature is around 8 Degrees Centigrade, sometimes a little lower.

The tour shows from start to finish the process of taking limestone from the ground, processing it in the kiln and how the process has changed over the years. There are plenty of captions and lots of photographs from the old days that bring the story to life.

When we were there the historical exhibits were interspersed with modern art installations; this was only a temporary exhibition but I understand there are often displays of this kind in the mine museum and I can see why. The environment makes a very good backdrop for such works with small caves that offer just a glimpses of the installation as you walk past and invite you to go in to investigate.

The tour ends in the largest quarry - apparently known as a "stope", a word I'd never heard of before - with a sound and light show; I'll stop short of calling it an extravaganza. The show was so poor it was all I could do not to laugh out loud. "Under-whelming" hardly covers the let down of this part of the tour. Everyone stared at each other wondering when it was actually going to get going and were rather bemused when the lights went back on because it never really seemed to have started. This is the kind of thing I would expect to see in somewhere like Ukraine or Romania, not western Europe.

At this point you can either return to the surface by lift or climb the old stairs; the people who climbed the stairs surfaced about the same time as everyone else. Although the lift is fast, it is quite small and sometimes the group has to be divided to make several trips.

Back at the office you can buy small pieces of quartz, a by-product of the mining process and there are a small number of publications for sale on mining and more generally in geology. When we visited there were no catering facilities but this may be different in summer when more visitors are expected. The mine is only a ten minute walk from the town centre where there are several places to eat and drink.

I would certainly recommend a visit to this museum. I agreed to go there because my partner is interested in this kind of thing, personally industrial and engineering stuff doesn't really interest me. Galleries and architecture are more my kind of thing. However, I did enjoy the art installations and I did learn a lot about the local area from a social history point of view. If industrial history and engineering does interest you, this is an excellent place to visit.

During the summer there are more acitivities for younger children but the children who were on our tour seemed to tire quite quickly and one screamed so much at just seeing the lift he stayed on the surface with his mother.I wouldn't recommend this attraction for people with very young children, perhaps over seven years might be best.


Adults - 10 Euro, Children under 16 - 5 Euro
Family ticket - 20 Euro (2 adults, 2 children under 15)

Opening hours
Saturdays and Sundays all year round - guided tours at 12.00pm, 1.30pm, 3.00pm

Between the beginning of June and the end of August the museum is open daily with tours at the following times
11.00am, 12.00pm, 1.00pm, 2.00pm, 3.00pm, 4.00pm, 5.00pm

The museum closes at Midsummer

The Tytyri Mining Museum is signposted from the city centre.
Pass the first entrance on the right which is the plant entrance; continue until you find the next entrance on the right where you'll see a small car park beside the museum office.

The full address is
Tytyrinkatu
08100 Lohja
Finland

The museum does not have a website.
Other information

The museum is not accessible to wheelchair users. For obvious reasons consider carefully before visiting if you are claustrophobic, afraid of lifts, etc. Once down there you cannot leave without being escorted by a member of staff.
There are toilets at each level and at the office.
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