Sodankylä Local Heritage Museum

At the Local Heritage Museum you encounter a piece of the lost Sompio Lapland.

For those visiting Sompio and Sodankylä in the summer, the Local Heritage Museum is one of the best places to visit. Located a short walk from the center of Sodankylä, the museum rises in a beautiful spot at the junction of two large rivers — the Kitinen and the Jeesiöjoki. Outside the gate there is a large parking area for those arriving by car.

In the museum courtyard you will find several old and well‑preserved buildings where you can explore Sompio’s traditional architecture, culture, and ways of life. The main building is the Kuukkeli House, built in 1906 in the village of Riesto, in the area now covered by the Lokka reservoir. It was moved to the museum grounds through volunteer work in the 1960s, before the reservoir was created.

Current events and opening hours can be found on the museum’s Facebook page.

You can explore the Local Heritage Museum independently or ask the staff on site for a guided introduction to the buildings and objects. A tour of the museum gives you a good understanding of the old home, village, and livelihood culture of the Sodankylä region.

Around the main building, a yard typical of the era has been reconstructed, including a granary, smoke sauna, pirrakota, cowshed, the Penjus and Erkkilä storehouses, a tolla, a threshing barn, and a hay barn. In addition, many other buildings related to Sodankylä’s traditional livelihoods have been moved to the museum area, such as a smithy, a Lapland house, a calving kota, a summer cowshed, several storehouses, and the central part of a reindeer fence — the churn.

The buildings also display a wide range of old Lappish artifacts.

Arrival and accessibility

The museum is located 2 kilometers from the center of Sodankylä, and you get to marvel the beautiful banks of the river Jeesiöjoki. Right next to the museum there is a spacious parking lot for those arriving by car.

You can access the museum yard by a wheelchair and a baby trolley. There are ramps to the main building, stockhouse, cowshed and the toilet, but all of the buildings have doorsteps at which one might require assistance. Especially the doorsteps of the main building and the cowshed are very high. There is an accessible toilet which can fit a smaller-size wheelchair. The composter toilet is rather high on a pedestal. There is a water tap for washing hands, but no bidet shower. There are no supportive handles in the toilet.

Opening hours 9.6.-23.8.2026

Tue-Sun 12:00-18:00

Free entry, welcome!