Where there is a former mining village, there is also a former mine. This time it isn’t very hard to find it.
The sign says ‘Mätäsvaara Mine Stage’, and this is exactly what it is. A stage and a stand have been built in the old quarry to be used by the local yearly classical music festival. It’s become quite a popular place for concerts.
The old quarry is accessed by a path made of trees. It looks scary but really isn’t.
This was my second visit to the quarry and I had never seen the gate closed. Perhaps it had been before the stage had been built.
There indeed was a small stage and a stand. My friend who was accompanying me is a wonderful singer, and the acoustics in the place were amazing. I can see why it has been such a popular concert venue.
Originally the mine was an open quarry, which filled with water. In the later years mining was also done in underground shafts. The central shaft was over 150 metres deep and there were over eight kilometres of tunnels.
Such as this one. I don’t know how far it reaches as I’ve never been brave enough to go too deep. There are wooden planks on the floor, but there’s also a lot of water and the planks are partly submerged and in a very bad condition.
But for someone who likes caves this could be an opportunity.