19th Century Village

Pelkosenniemi

Suvanto is one of the rare villages that survived the wars of the 20th century in Finnish Lapland, offering a unique filming location for productions.

The little village of Suvanto in the municipality of Pelkosenniemi is one of the few villages that survived World War II in Lapland. The Lapland War in 1944 resulted in the destruction for close to all buildings in the region, and these days buildings from pre-1944 are few and far between.

Home to some 30 people, Suvanto features over 100 buildings, including drying barns, cowsheds, saunas and habited houses. The buildings are mostly from the 19th century and the early 1900s, with the oldest ones dating back to the 1700s. The buildings have been restored in the 1980s with the help of the Ministry of the Environment and the Finnish Heritage Agency.

The nearby village of Kairala (20 min by car) is also a good location to consider, and it’s easy to combine with filming in Suvanto. Kairala also offers impressive buildings from the 19th century, including premises that can be rented for interior shots. There are also other small villages in the Pelkosenniemi region.