Tytyri Mine Experience

The Unique Underground Adventure

The riches contained in the bedrock have been the foundation of Lohja’s prosperity and growth, and are at the heart of the area’s industry

Guided Tours

Opening times

Havainnekuva yleisökierroksille. Piirretyssä kuvassa on paljon pyöreitä, punertavan sävyisiä ympyröitä, joiden jokaisen sisällä on erikokoinen ja värinen kaivoskypärä. Kypäriä on yhteensä viisi, joiden väreinä ovat keltainen, sininen, valkoinen, harmaa ja violetti.

Private tour

Private tours are a unique way to experience the mining environment and get into a real mining atmosphere with your own guide.

Private tours are for groups of 1-6 people and cost 120€ / group. Private tours should be bought at the latest two days before the tour date.

Private tours are available in English. Please contact Visit Lohja for English speaking guide and to book your tour. tourist@lohja.fi/+358 44 369 1309.

Havainnekuva kaivokseen varautumisesta. Värikkäällä taustalla piirretty poika, jolla keltainen kaivoskypärä, vaaleansininen kaulahuivi, turkoosi lämmin takki, pitkät ruskeat housut, sekä tummat kävelykengät.

TYTYRI MINE EXPERIENCE TOUR

The tour of Tytyri Mine Experience brings you deep beneath the surface to the land of miners, where darkness and light combine to create experiences you’ll encounter nowhere else. As part of the guided tour, the geological exhibition by the Geological Survey of Finland shows what can be found underground, and of course also presents the history of Tytyri mine, including the working life of the miners. The interplay of light and colour are to be seen in the art exhibitions on display, and the tour culminates in a light show projected on to the massive surface of the excavated area, which is 100 metres deep and 100 metres wide.

Find tour times and tickets here.

CHILDREN’S MINE AND TYTYRI TYYRA THEME TOUR

The Tytyri Mine Experience has always fascinated adults and children alike. The subterranean environment of a mine is in itself an exciting place that gets the imagination working overtime, so it is a small step to picture a goblin or mountain king in some dark corner of the caverns.

The Mine Experience now offers our youngest visitors an area of their very own, where they can enjoy the activities the mine has to offer. Can you find the gemstones hidden in the sandbox? Or would you like to feel for yourself how heavy a piece of limestone is? Are you strong enough to break up a piece of it? After all, that’s what miners do all day!

Tours are in Finnish. Find tour times and ticket for families with children here.

Tytyri's Tyyra tour

Through the stories of Tytyri’s Tyyra and Kalle, you’ll learn a little bit about Tyyra’s underground wonderland. What does it feel like to climb up an old, creaky elevator, or to sit on the lit-up throne of Tyyra’s father, the Mountain King? Who knows, you might even find beautiful shining crystals – or has the Mountain King and his family taken them all already to decorate their home? The best way for kids to get to know Tytyri’s Tyyra and his friends and family is by reserving the special theme tour.

Havainnekuva geologisiin kierroksiin. Värikkäällä taustalla piirretty valkoinen kaivoskypärä, sekä harmaa hakku.

Tytyri mine experience theme tours

Geological experience tours

The tour of Tytyri Mine Geological Experience brings you deep beneath the surface where darkness and light combine to create experiences you’ll encounter nowhere else. As part of the guided tour and geological workshop, the geological exhibition by the Geological Survey of Finland shows what can be found underground, the mine’s history and the lives of its miners. The tour culminates in a light show projected on to the massive surface of the excavated area, which is 100 metres deep and 100 metres wide.

Art experience tours

Explore art inside the mine. Art experience tours are guided tours with emphasis on art installations.

Tours are in Finnish. Buy tickets: nt.fi/visitlohja.

More information:

Pricelist

Lohja Tourist Service Centre

+358 44 369 1309

tourist@lohja.fi

Kuvassa kolme kaivokypärää, joista ylin on valkoinen ja kaksi alinta sinisiä.

Tytyri Mine Experience virtual tour

EXHIBITIONS

Stones time - geological exhibition

In cooperation with the Geological Survey of Finland, a new geological exhibition is being created in the Tytyri Mine Experience. The exhibition will be located in the new mine tunnel that has been excavated by branching off from the main mine corridor where the lower station of the new elevator is located. The exhibition consists of three themes, each in its own area, and two light installations located at the ends of the tunnel. The themes of the exhibition are archeology and the development of nature, the geological development of rock, and the uses of geological raw materials.

NORDKALK EXHIBITION

The Nordkalk company, which operates the limestone mining operations at Tytyri, is owned by the Rettig family. The limestone vein that is mined at Tytyri is expected to last about another 100 years. The part of the exhibition presented at Tytyri Mine Experience by the Nordkalk mining company showcases the various uses of the limestone mined there, its refinement processes, and more. It is worth keeping in mind that limestone is a part of surprisingly many everyday things that we take for granted.

Visitors to the Mine Experience can excavate a small piece of the limestone to take home – a souvenir that is around 1.6 billion years old. Much of the water used by the town of Lohja and the surrounding region is pumped from Tytyri mine. The sounds of the water and the high air humidity are integral features of the underground tunnel network. In the Mine Experience you can also see several old mining machines and tools that are no longer in use.

ART EXHIBITIONS

LIGHT INSTALLATIONS IN TYTYRI

One of the high points of the guided tour is the underground light and music presentation. The three pieces of music were chosen by Lohja museum assistant Iiris Kankaanpää.

The light works of the three performances were created by light artist Petri Puttonen, with technical assistance from Tuomo Holmström.

There are three different light-and-music artworks to choose from.

Jean Sibelius – The first is Jean Sibelius’s Finlandia. One of the Finnish composer’s best-known pieces, it gets to the heart of Finnishness as part of an exhibition lasting around 8 minutes. The story of Finlandia is beautifully presented, with the continually changing lights reflecting and the power of the music reverberating against the walls of the mine.

Edvard Grieg – The second work is Edvard Grieg’s In the Hall of the Mountain King. This piece, composed by the Norwegian as part of the music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt, is only about two minutes long – ideal for younger visitors, who are sure to be enthralled by the accompanying light show.

Amorphis – The third piece of music is From the heaven of my heart, by the Finnish metal band Amorphis. The band’s lead vocalist, Tomi Joutsen, is a native of Lohja, and the lyrics to the song were written by artist Pekka Kainulainen, from nearby Sammati. The song takes some of its influences from the Finnish national epic The Kalevala.

CHANGING ART INSTALLATIONS IN TYTYRI

In the summer of 2021, two new state-of-the-art works, the Poranterä and the Ikimetsä, will be built at the Tytyri Experience Mine on the -110 level underground, in addition to the underground exhibition presenting everbeing rocks Life History and mining activities. The works can be viewed with guided tours to the Experience Mine or in connection with Tytyri-Sali events. Both installations are planned for the period from May 1 to October 30, 2021.

Poran terä (Drill bit)

A four-part, 21-metre-long, elegant and multidimensional installation art work created by four artists which is located in a closed off tunnel. The viewer can choose whether to enter the tunnel or observe it from a distance.

Artists:
Timo Kaleva: a multicoloured sculpture at the end of the tunnel illuminated with LED strip lights.
Keimo Valkonen: a three-dimensional, six-metre-long work made of glowing coloured threads and illuminated with ultraviolet lights.
Juuso Joutsio: a six-metre light art creation at the entrance to the tunnel.
Markku Toikkanen: composed a soundscape in which the instruments are the sounds of nature. The artwork covers the entire tunnel.

Ikimetsä (Old-growth Forest)

The installation, which creates the Kalevala nature experience at the Tytyri Mine Experience, consists of sound artist Mikko H. Haapoja's and folk musician Ulla Hillebrandt's Aarnimetsä | ikisointi soundscapes and music, as well as images of sculptures created by environmental artist Jenni Tieaho. The video mapping on the rock surface of the mine has been created by light artist Pekka Järvilehto.

Ikimetsä (Old-growth Forest) underground takes the one who experiences it to magical spheres, to the soft embrace of our ancient primeval forests. Media and sound artist Mikko H. Haapoja's soundscape surrounds the audience: by descending deep underground, you can experience the timeless Finnish forest without the rumble of traffic. The theme ensemble, designed by folk musician Ulla Hillebrandt, is part of a permanent sound work, but also expands at various events into performances combining soundscapes and folk music.

The Story Of The Mine Experience

The riches contained in the bedrock have been the foundation of Lohja’s prosperity and growth, and are at the heart of the area’s industry.