Pajamäki Heritage Centre

Pohjapuolentie 366 Toholampi

Because the iron imported from Sweden was too expensive for poor parishes, self-learned iron manufacturing was common in Toholampi. Iron ore was searched for in lakes, bogs and ditches that contained iron-bearing earth. Earth was also lifted and drained from rust-bearing springs.

In the village of Kotila, the rustic farm buildings of Pajamäki form a museum area with a history dating back to the mid-16th century. In those days, Pajamäki was the first farm recorded in the tax book of Toholampi. Pajamäki has also been called Rautamäki (‘iron hill’) because iron was manufactured there in the 1600s and 1700s. The relics of a bloomer, as well as iron slag in the yard soil, have been found at Pajamäki. As the name suggests, Pajamäki (‘smithy hill’) also used to have a smithy, where blacksmiths forged iron manually. A slope leads from Pajamäki to Lake Kirkkojärvi (a widening in the Lestijoki river), on whose shores iron ore used to be lifted and then transported to the bloomery. People say that Kotila in Rautakuru had better lake iron ore than was common in Central Ostrobothnia. As far as is known, in Pajamäki they also used to read Finnish translations of texts by mystics such as Jacob Böhme.

The restored main building of Pajamäki, a parish house, is from the 1800s. The heritage centre also features a windmill built in 2004. In the smithy, you can see tools and forged utensils. Different events and gatherings can be organised in the main building of Pajamäki, and the buildings in the courtyard are open to the public in the summer.