Pickala Manor ( Finnish: ''Pikkalan kartano'',

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: ''Pickala gård'') is a historical

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

Siuntio Siuntio (; ) is a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Southern Finland. Its neighboring municipalities are Ingå to the west, Kirkkonummi to the east, Lohja to the north-west, and Vihti to the north. It is west of Helsinki. As of 2021, the p ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The current main building was built in 1850 according to architect A. F. Granstedt's blueprints. Pickala Manor is owned privately and acts as a private home. The historical manor house together with the surrounding land area builds a Significant Built Cultural Environment of State Interest and therefore the area is protected by law. Protection of the area is monitored by the

Finnish Heritage Agency The Finnish Heritage Agency (, ), previously known in English as the National Board of Antiquities, preserves Finland's material cultural heritage: collects, studies and distributes knowledge of it. The agency is a cultural and research institutio ...

. Pickala Manor has also acted as a set for two Finnish movies, ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" () is an 1844 original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in ''New Fairy Tales. First Volume#New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection, New Fairy Tales. First Vo ...

'' (Finnish: ''Lumikuningatar'') and ''

Onnelliset leikit ''Onnelliset leikit'' (also known as ''Happy Games'' in English) is a 1964 Finnish comedy film directed by Aito Mäkinen and Esko Elstelä. It was entered into the 4th Moscow International Film Festival The 4th Moscow International Film Fes ...

''.

History

Pickala Manor was established originally in 1590 by the noble family Fleming, the owners of nearby

Suitia Manor Suitia Manor ( Finnish: ''Suitian linna'', Swedish: ''Svidja slott'') is a historical manor house in Siuntio on the southern coast of Finland. The history of the manor dates back to the medieval era. The oldest parts of the current main building ...

. Before the 1660s the manor house was situated a bit father away from where it is now located. Pickala Manor was separated from the lands of Suitia Manor in 1815 and annexed to the lands of

Sjundby Manor Sjundby Manor (Finnish language, Finnish: ''Sjundbyn kartano'', Swedish language, Swedish: ''Sjundby slott'') is a manor house in Siuntio in Finland. The history of the manor is known from the year 1417. During the 1560s king Gustav I of Sweden' ...

. In the end of the 19th century Pickala became an independent estate of its own. The historical

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

between

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

and

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

passes Pickala on the northern side of the manor. The Flemings of Suitia Manor founded a port by the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

near Pickala Manor. This port was situated by the mouth of river Pikkalanjoki.

Main building

Pickala Manor's main building is located in the end of a small sand avenue with a line of trees running along each side. The current main building in

empire style The Empire style (, ''style Empire'') is an early-nineteenth-century design movement in architecture, furniture, other decorative arts, and the visual arts, representing the second phase of Neoclassicism. It flourished between 1800 and 1815 duri ...

was built by general A. F. Silfverhjelm, who then owned the manor house, in 1850. Blueprints were made by architect A. F. Granstedt. General Silfverhjelm built also a large stone cow house. The courtyard consist also of a bakery cottage from the 1700s, inspector's house from the 1800s and a stall in

art nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style from 1913. The garden and park area of Pickala Manor has remained almost unchanged since 1872.

Soviet rental era

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the area of

Porkkala Naval Base Porkkala Naval Base was a Soviet naval base operational from 1944–1956 in the Municipality, municipalities of Kirkkonummi, Ingå and Siuntio on the Porkkala peninsula, 30 kilometers (19 mi) ''west'' of Helsinki, Finland. The area was l ...

was rented for the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Parts of municipalities of Siuntio,

Kirkkonummi Kirkkonummi (; , , Sweden ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Kirkkonummi is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Kirkkonummi is approximately . It is the most populous Mu ...

Ingå Ingå (; , ) is a municipality in Finland, located in the southern coast of the country. Ingå is situated in the western part of the Uusimaa region. The population of Ingå is approximately , while the Raseborg sub-region, sub-region has a popul ...

and

Degerby Degerby is a former Finnish municipality located in Uusimaa region in Finland. Degerby was founded in 1867 after it gained its independence from the municipality of Ingå. The municipality ceased to exist in 1945 after major part of it became a p ...

were left on the Soviet side of the border and people had to evacuate their homes. Also Pickala Manor was part of the rental area and the main building was used as a home for 20 families, judged by the amount of stoves that had been built inside. After Porkkala Naval Base was returned to Finland also Pickala was returned to its rightful owners. Soviet era had left its marks and the manor house was in need of extensive reparation. A cobblestone road, a so-called Kabanov's artillery road, leads to Pickala Manor. This road was built by Soviet troops to make it better support the weight of heavy armoured military vehicles. A Soviet triumphal arch has been preserved by this road. There used to be more of these triumphal arches across the rental area but only the one in Pickala has survived. Many monuments built by Soviet soldiers were torn down after the area was returned to Finland and people were able to return to their homes.

Images

File:Pickala från porten 1912 SLS 1555 444.jpg, Pickala Manor in 1912. File:Pickala från norra sidan 1912 SLS 1555 443.jpg, Pickala manor, the northern facade in 1912. File:Pickala från trädgårdssidan 1912 SLS 1555 445.jpg, Pickala Manor and garden in 1912.

References

{{coord, 60.09714, 24.30197, format=dms, type:landmark_region:FI, display=title Siuntio Manor houses in Finland