What is Syrjävaara?
The name, Syrjävaara, means a remote wooded hill.
It is a name of the village and the farm. The farm is over 300 years old and Finland’s first dark nature reserve. It is in the middle of a hilly landscape in northern Savonia. In the park you can experience the night nature, the starry sky and the northern lights, in all its forms from the full moon to the darkest darkness of autumn.
Syrjävaara has a star park, a dark sky center, an observatory, a gallery and a cafe. Come to the park stargazing. Come for a visit, take part in excursions and courses, or organize a trip to Syrjävaara.
In the sky of Syrjävaara right now
The camera image is updated every 3 minutes in the evening and night time. The SQM reading is updated every 5 minutes at night. In the summer time, both the camera and the meter are not operational.
History
Syrjävaara Farm is part of the main farm established in the 1660s. Its settlement was born during the Great Northern War in the early 18th century when the persecutor forced people moved from the main village to hide . It was the largest house in the new village and the village got its name from it. The estate was redeemed as a legacy estate in 1840. It has an unbroken chain of settlements over 300 years old. Family has always been living there, so it has not been museumed. Nor was it converted into a dairy farm, and the old one was never destroyed.
The current main building was built in 1928 from the logs of an earlier 19th century house. The oldest structures in the courtyard district are in a manure floor barn, which still uses planks from an 18th-century house. There are twelve acres of fields and meadows around the yard that are currently being restored. They are surrounded by more than a mile of original stone fences. Old meadow plants have survived in the yard and are slowly spreading back into the house’s surroundings.
Syrjävaara is in the middle of the dark sky area
This year, 2023, the cooperation project of the municipalities of Juuka, Kaavi and Tuusniemi investigated the dark sky situation in the area, public places suitable for stargazing and entrepreneurs operating in the area who offer dark sky services.
The area is more than 1500 square kilometers in total. The area’s information, services and stories of the starry sky are gathered in one cover. The guide is still only in Finnish. The guide can be found at: https://issuu.com/kaa…/docs/matkaopas_yotaivaanystaville_web