The Museum Buildings of Mateli

Elias Lönnrot writes in the foreword of the Kanteletar:
“A couple of years ago, and it probably still is the case, there lived by Koitere Lake an old 80 year old wife, Mateli Kuivalatar, when we were reciting songs collected from other girls to her, she replied with “oh they still reminisce about them in this land and who sang it to you? It was I who did that as a young girl.”

The significance of Mateli Kuivalatar’s (1771-1846) runes for the content of the Kanteletar was notable. To Lönnrot, Kuivalatar was a “genuine singer” and he described her poems as such: “it is like the petite Rosa Carelica, the forest rose of Karelia, mildly-scented in the middle of the wilderness.”

The exhibition of Mateli Kuivalatar is located at the two-part hut transferred to Parppeinvaara from the yard of Mateli Kuivalatar’s birth place. Next to the Museum buildings of Mateli there are two old storage houses which belonged to family Korhonen. Storehouses were transferred from Hattuvaara village. Now buildings serve as showrooms for summertime exhibitions.

The Museum buildings of Mateli are part of the Parppeinvaara Runesinger’s Village. At Parppeinvaara you’ll find a collection of historic buildings based on the theme of local tradition. These include the Rune Singer´s House with traditional music and exhibitions; the Border General´s Cabin, a war-time operational headquarters; Restaurant Parppeinpirtti and a small Orthodox chapel.