Verla Groundwood and Board Mill is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996. Verla is quite simply unique. Located about 30 kilometres from the centre of the town of Kouvola, it is an old board mill in a beautiful and peaceful landscape on the Verlankoski Rapids in SE Finland. The mill has been the heart of its village since the 1870s, first as a working mill and since 1972 as a museum.
© Lassi Kujala / UPM Verla Mill Museum
Visitors to the museum can relive the early history of the forest industry and life in a small mill village: the original mill buildings and machinery, the patrons residence, the surrounding area and the idyllic workers’ cottages as well as the Verla Rapids and its power plants. The white board, made only of spruce wood, was manufactured here till 1964, with the methods from 19th Century.
The mill museum tells the process of board manufacturing as well as of the life in the mill village. In summer, the village workshops and boutiques are a further attraction.
© Lassi Kujala / UPM Verla Mill Museum
Tours in Finnish begin every hour on the hour. The last tour of the day is at 16:00/ 18:00. Tours in other languages are available by arrangement. A tour is approximately 60 min. Service Languages in Summer: Finnish, Swedish, English, German, Russian… – depending on our guides. Every tour begins with a 10 min documentary of the mill spoken in Finnish, Swedish, English, German, French, Russian or Spanish, subtitled also in Italian, Japanese and Chinese. Written summaries of the mill tour available also in other languages.
© Lassi Kujala / UPM Verla Mill Museum
Headerphoto © Lassi Kujala / UPM Verla Mill Museum
No comments yet
Tell us what you think of this article.