Lake Keurusselkä connects the two cities

Unique Finnish nature, culture and industry

Keurusselkä is the 40th largest lake in Finland as a whole. Its waters flow from Keuruu to Mänttä, from there on to Vilppula, to the Näsijärvi watershed and finally through the Kokemäenjoki to the sea.

Keuruu

Keuruu is a city of humming forests and shimmering lakes. It gained its first permanent inhabitants in the 1560s after Kustaa Vaasa had given his mighty order to inhabit the wilderness. Keuruu is the third largest municipality in Central Finland.

The city center as well as numerous villages offer a diverse, European environment where modern services are close by. Keuruu includes both international, metal-dominated laser technology companies and the largest manufacturer of cabbage rolls in the Nordic countries.

In Keuruu you can relax with culture and nature all year round. In the municipality, there are, for example, four churches, the culturally and historically valuable Old Keuruu district, the Himmaan Huippu observation tower and unique sports and outdoor landscapes.

Mänttä

Mänttä combines a water-related industrial landscape with a high level of industrial architecture. The early wood grinding has given rise to an industrial city where a paper mill company and magnificent artistic and cultural heritage meet.

Gösta Serlachius was a prominent lover of art. He wanted his art collection to be preserved in Mänttä, who, in his own words, had seen the birth of the collection. The Gösta Serlachius Art Foundation was founded in 1933. In addition to maintaining the art collection, the foundation’s tasks were to build and maintain a museum and beautify Mänttä with art.

Today, Mänttä is known as an international art town. The elegant museums offer a wonderful table setting of the works of the most significant artists of their time from Finland and elsewhere in Europe. In addition, the Mänttä Music Festival and other cultural events create the “spirit of Mänttä”.