Dinner at Laukko

We celebrated my parents-in-law's Golden Anniversary once more by having a dinner in a restaurant of Laukko manor. 

The written history of Laukko manor dates back to year 1416, but according the folklore the local chieftain Matti Kurki received it as a manor from the king of Sweden in the 13th century. The most famous of the medieval lords of Laukko was Klaus Kurki, the tragic hero of a ballad called The Death of Elina. Elias Lönnrot finished The Kalevala, the 19th century work of epic Finnish poetry, while working as a teacher in Laukko. Lönnrot also compiled “Elinan Surma” poem, Finland’s most famous folk ballad based in Laukko from oral and written entries of the 1700’s. Lönnrot spent 8 years in Laukko. 

Klaus’s son Arvid became the last Bishop of Catholic Finland. At around the beginning of the 16th century the Kurcks had a stone castle built at Laukko as a symbol of their might and prosperity. The Kurki family owned Laukko until 1817. After that it has been owned by several families, for example famous industrialists Adolf Törngren and Rafael Haarla. Nowadays Laukko is a residence of the Lagerstam family.

Laukko manor is well known for its recent history with horses, both with training racing horses and for breeding horses. 

The present neo-classic manor house was built in the 1930s. The estate reopened to the public in the summer of 2016, as the estate celebrates its 600th anniversary. For the first time, visitors can see the estate and it's garden. Concerts and outdoor movie nights are arranged there in the summertime. 

We actually didn't see the manor house at all, the area was already closed when we finished the dinner. The restaurant building is not very near the manor. It was very rainy, but magically rain stopped in the afternoon and we got lovely sunny evening.

Two of our group was having their own fun while others studied the Laukko area map...

On the way home we saw three grey herons, two cranes, two white-tailed deers and Canada gooses - it was almost like a wild life safari!



+18,5°C, rainy day, sunny evening