The yard area of the Kesälahti Regional Museum, i.e. the Myllytupa museum area, is a charming environment for the whole family to wind down and enjoy. The area features roughly a dozen buildings and the largest smoke house in Finland built in 1725, which, through a variety of items, tell the story of good times and bad – visitors are introduced to life in the old days with all its trappings.
The known history of the museum area extends far into the past. The vicarage park nearby features a memorial stone for the first Lutheran church to operate in Kesälahti in the 17th and 18th centuries. Closer to the current church lies the parish’s oldest Lutheran cemetery. During the great famine of the 1690s, unknown beggars from northerly villages who starved to death in Kesälahti were buried in the mounds that can still be seen in the museum area.
From the start, the local Kesälahti-Seura association has strived to create a complete yard area instead of a museum brimming with items. The items on display cover everything from agriculture, fishing and day-to-day life in Kesälahti.