Description of the attraction
Having visited Karelia, this beautiful land of fabulous forests and lakes, one cannot pass by such a unique museum of the culture of the peoples of the north as the Kalevala Museum of Runes singers. Rune-singing traditions have glorified this land from ancient times to the present day, and now you can still hear epic, wedding, lullaby songs in the mouths of old-timers. There is even a national holiday, the Day of the Kalevala folk epic, as a monument of Karelian-Finnish culture, celebrated on February 28.
Runes (from the Finnish runo - rune) are songs of the Finno-Ugric peoples, their source is the mythical epic about the creation of the world. Karelian folk runes were processed into an extensive poem of 50 songs by the collector of folklore, the Finnish physician-scientist Elias Lönroth. He collected individual folk songs, processed and combined into a publication called Kalevala. The first edition was released in 1835. "Kalevala" is the name of the mythological country where the epic heroes of the northern region live, it comes from the name of the hero Kalev.
In the village of Kalevala (previously it was called Ukhta), according to legend, a pine tree has survived, under which the scientist worked. The rune-singers museum was also created there in 1984. Now it is part of the Ethnocultural Center KALEVALATALO, this is a municipal institution and a unique exhibition in the world has been opened, telling about the ethnic epic of the Karelian-Finnish peoples.
Usually, the performers of the runes were storytellers from the common people, they sang the runes in one voice or alternately in two voices, often accompanying them with playing the kantele. That is why the museum is located in the old house of the storyteller Maria Remshu.
The museum presents original items of storytellers and residents of this region, about 300 exhibits in total. But the main value of the museum is the collected old runes. Here they can be heard performed by the folk choir. You can also get acquainted with other types of ancient oral folklore: conspiracies, crying, eigi.
Not far from the rune-singers museum, there is a printing house museum associated with it. It consists of several workshops, in which machines for the production of printed materials with manual typing have been preserved. The hand-typed Finnish fonts preserved here are also of museum value. Excursions are held here, demonstrating the ancient printing process, upon request in advance, since the machines are activated and heated beforehand.
Since 2006, the museum has been using modern multimedia technologies that make it possible to bring closer, live to show the beauty of the old epic: songs, legends, crying. This project is called "Rune Slow Talk". The program also includes various materials on the history of discoveries of Karelia's travelers in the 19th century, maps of the White Sea explorers.
The topics of excursions in the house-museum of rune singers are very diverse. Here you can book excursions on the following topics: “Ok, the house was cut down, the house was neatly set up”, “The rune-singing traditions of the Kalevala region”, “The betrothed is already ready, your duck is dressed”, “Kalevala” comes to life”,“Elias Lönnrot - life and work”,“Travels of Lönnrot "," Traditional occupations of the northern Karelians "and others. Sightseeing tours of the village are carried out by excursionists' transport on all days of the week, in daylight hours. You will be able to visit in an organized way and hear many interesting things not only in the Museum of the Runes Singers, but also in the houses of storytellers, see the Lönnrot pine tree, the Jamanen barn, visit the house of the engineer Moberg.
