The Varistaipale Canal Museum

The Varistaipale Canal Museum is located on the Varistaipale Canal, along the Juojärvi Waterway that diverges from the Heinävesi Waterway near the Convent of Lintula and Monastery of Valamo. It is approximately 12 km to downtown Heinävesi. The museum is one of six canal museums in the region that belong to the Canal Museum run by the Finnish Transport Agency. The Canal Museum was founded in 1980 and the Varistaipale Canal Museum in 1987.

On the museum grounds, visitors can learn more about the canal that was built in 1915, the buildings used by canal workers and the exhibitions in them. The Varistaipale Canal is 1,100 m long and is Finland’s only canal to have four locks. The museum grounds include the canal caretaker’s house, the barn and the baking building as well as the guard box for the canal guard. The canal and the museum grounds comprise the typical milieu of the canal season and the golden age of inland boat traffic.