Tytyri Gruvmuseum

Tytyri Mine Museum - Tytyri Gruva

Useful Information

Location:	Lohja, Southern Finland, west of Helsinki. From Helsinki E18 west, keep left on 1186, then 25 to Lohja. Turn right to city center, follow road Karstutie to the north, turn right on Tytyrinkatu. (60.263698, 24.068543)
Open:	All year Sat, Sun 13. Closed 01-JAN, Easter, Mother's Day, Ascension Day, Midsummer, Boxing Day, 06-DEC, 24-DEC, 25-DEC. Exact tour times only through online booking. [2022]
Fee:	Adults EUR 18, Children (3-16) EUR 10, Family (2+3) EUR 53, Seniors EUR 15, Students EUR 15. Groups (3-19): Adults EUR 18, Children (3-16) EUR 10. Groups (20-39): Adults EUR 16, Children (3-16) EUR 9. Groups (40+): Adults EUR 15, Children (3-16) EUR 8. Minimum price for groups EUR 120. [2022]
Classification:	Limestone Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System Son et Lumière
Dimension:	T=8 °C, L=60 km.
Guided tours:	D=1.5 h.
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Tytyrin Elämyskaivos, Kuilukatu 42, 08100 Lohja, Tel: +358-44-369-1309. E-mail: Lohja Museum, Tel: +358-19-3694203. Lohja Tourist Service Centre, Karstuntie 4, 08100 Lohja, Tel: +358-19-3691309, Tel: +358-19-3691218. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

16th century	Gustavus Vasa, King of Sweden and Finland, gives his permission to start the first iron mine.
1897	first limestone mining.
1911	start of industrial limestone mining.
1947	start of underground mining.
1956	mining completely underground.
MAY-1988	Tytyri mine museum at level 110 m opened.

Geology

This is an underground limestone mine, which is rather strange, as most countries quarry limestone. But Finland is part of an old craton, crystalline and metamorphic rocks, with almost no younger sedimentary rocks. So there is little limestone found in the country and this deposit is quite valuable.

Description

The Tytyri gruvmuseum (Tytyri mine museum) is located on the 110 m level of the Tytyri gruv (Tytyri pit). Beneath the typical tools and machinery, descriptions and documents of every day life of the miners, there is also an art exhibition underground. There is also a so-called adventure mine. The level of the museum is reached either by original mine wagon, a sort of funicular, or by a modern lift.

A few years ago the tour was updated and renamed Tytyrin Elämyskaivos (Tytyri Mine Experience). It includes an underground geological exhibition by the Geological Survey of Finland. There is also an exhibition on the history of Tytyri mine and on the working life of the miners. The tour ends with a light show. The underground exhibition is located in a huge chamber which is 100 m long and 100 m wide.

The visits for groups differ from the regular tours. Groups can reserve outside the public tour times. So while they pay the full price and there is a basic fee, even small groups can reserve their private tour and visit any day, except Holidays. There are also themed tours like Geological Tours, Tytyrin Tyyra tours, and Halloween tours. The special tours offered are only in Finnish. Tickets are sold online and by Lohja's Travel Service Center.

The mining at Lohja was stared in the 16th century with a permission by Gustavus Vasa, King of Sweden and Finland. But at first it was an iron mine. Then in 1897 limestone was discovered, which is actually not an ore. The limestone mine started with a quarry in 1911. In 1947 the crushing plant was erected in the mine below at 110 m and huge limestone blocks were dropped into the mine for crushing. In 1956 the open cast mining was stopped and now all mining is underground. Scandinavia lacks limestone and the rock is needed for various reasons, to make cement and concrete for example, or as a part of various industrial processes. Buying limestone in central Europe would be quite cheap, but the transport costs increase the price substantially. As a result the limestone mining is profitable despite the cost for underground mining. This mine is still working, today the miners work at the 350 m level. The network of more than 60 km of tunnels is crisscrossing under the lake and the town Lohja.

In 2012 the mining museum was the location of a special event named Muru Pops Down in Tytyri. Muru restaurant was named Restaurant of the Year 2012 by the Finnish Gastronomic Society. They offer a four-course dinner in a mining canteen which is part of the museum. The menu is salted salmon seasoned with cumin and mustard-acquavit sauce, fennel risotto with escargots flambéed in Pernod and roasted veal tenderloin and hangar steak served with béarnaise sauce. The tickets were for € 128 include transportation to and from the mine from Helsinki, nevertheless the event was booked out.