Museums

Museums store and preserve national culture and natural heritage. In recent years, Finnish museums have developed from institutions focussing on artefacts and collections to places which preserve, study and present various phenomena on an extensive basis.

All in all there are over a thousand museums in Finland, a few hundred of which are professionally run. There are three national museums in Finland.

The Finnish National Museum, which is part of the National Board of Antiquities, displays the history of Finland and the Finnish people. The museum displays Finland’s largest permanent archaeological exhibition.

The Finnish National Gallery comprises the Ateneum Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Kiasma), the Sinebrychoff Art Museum and the Central Art Archives. The Finnish National Gallery holds Finland’s most important art collection.

The collection at the Finnish Museum of Natural History contains botanical, zoological and geological specimens.