Historical and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve 'Yalkala'

About museum

The Yalkala Historical and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve is located in the Vyborgsky District of the Leningrad Region, between the two lakes Bolshoye Simaginskoe and Dolgoye, 12 km from Zelenogorsk. In this picturesque place there is a relict kame-and-lake relief, a glacial lake and a rich world of flora and fauna. On the museum grounds, covering 9.8 ha, are two former Finnish farmsteads: Parviainen and Luoma-Aho. The museum was opened on October 20, 1940, immediately after the end of the Soviet-Finnish War. The museum displays household items, furniture and utensils that belonged to the farmsteads. The exhibition pavilion tells the history of the Karelian Isthmus, V. I. Lenin's visit in 1917, and the life and death of G. V. Plekhanov and A. A. Benois. Part of the exhibition is also devoted to the events of 1939-1940 and 1941-1944, when the Karelian Isthmus became part of the Soviet Union. The museum presents items reflecting the life of Finns on the Karelian Isthmus.