Places to visit

Jyväskylä has rare museums of national level for example the Aalto2-museum centre which combines the Alvar Aalto museum and the Central Finlands museum, Craft Museum of Finland and National Costume Centre, and Finnish Air Force Museum. Other museums worth visiting include the Natural History Museum of Central Finland, Jyväskylä Art Museum Holvi and the Museum of Central Finland’s craftsmen’s homes at Toivola Old Courtyard. Further information about museums and galleries on visitors pages.

Petäjävesi Old Church and Oravivuori triangulation tower have been included in UNESCO’s world heritage list. Petäjävesi Old Church was constructed in 1763–65. It gained inclusion in UNESCO’s world heritage list in 1994 as a memorial to Nordic wooden architecture. The church is a masterful demonstration of durable construction in wood.

Oravivuori triangulation tower is situated at the top of Oravivuori hill in Korpilahti. It is one of Finland’s six triangulation points in the Struve chain. This triangulation chain extends from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean and was used in the nineteenth century to establish the shape of the earth.

Jyväskylä is known as the city of Alvar Aalto. The Jyväskylä Region has the most buildings in the world designed by world-famous architect Alvar Aalto – close on thirty all in all. This total includes buildings from the very early days of his career through to masterpieces from later periods. In the master’s footsteps we move from classicism to functionalism and architecture in brick to monumentalism.

The Aaltoreitti [Aalto Route], which begins at the Alvar Aalto museum, provides a fine overview of the Jyväskylä cityscape and its building architecture. Further information on visitors pages.