Mines and quarries of Finland

Under the ground and into the rock

Finland's bedrock is among the oldest in the world, and copper, limestone, iron, gold and granite have been quarried from it for centuries. Most of the mines are now closed, but they haven't vanished: shafts, headframes, open pits and concentrator plants remain in the landscape, and a few can be entered. This map brings together the mines and quarries you can see – and the ones where you can dig for yourself.

Mines you can enter

At Tytyri in Lohja, a lift lowers you a hundred metres underground into the passages of a working limestone mine – the only place in Finland where a tourist can go this deep. Outokumpu's old concentrator plant is now the Mining Museum, and the lift shaft of the Keretti mine went down to 407 metres. On top of Lampivaara in Luosto you dig amethyst with your own hands; any stone that fits in your fist is yours to keep. The Haveri gold mine in Ylöjärvi is now a museum.

The quarry that built St Petersburg

In the 1800s, 48 columns for St Isaac's Cathedral in St Petersburg and the Alexander Column were hewn from the rapakivi granite of the Virolahti coast – a 600-tonne monolith loaded onto a ship at Pyterlahti. The quarries still stand on the shore, and the rock still shows where the columns were cut. The stone of the imperial capital came from Finland.

Mines filled with water

When a mine closes and the pumps stop, it fills with groundwater. The old Ojamo limestone mine in Lohja is now Finland's best-known cave-diving site: clear water, passages tens of metres deep. Open pits in Vantaa and Lohja have become swimming spots. Over the 118-metre shaft at Aijala in Salo still stands a 26-metre concrete headframe.

Before you go

• A guided mine tour requires booking and warm clothes: it's +8°C underground.
• The walls of old open pits are vertical and deep underwater. Don't jump from the swimming edge; there are rocks beneath the surface.
• Don't enter mine tunnels without a guide. Diving at Ojamo requires cave-diving training and a permit.
• Collecting stones is allowed only where that's the point of the place (Lampivaara). Nothing may be taken from mines classified as ancient monuments.