Back in the early 1960’s something important in the history of Finnish highways happened. In 1964 route number 3 from Helsinki to Vaasa via Tampere had finally been rebuilt according to modern standards. A year earlier the Sääksmäki bridge, one of the five big suspension bridges on Finnish highways was completed.
As soon as the bridge opened, a motel-restaurant called Viidennumero (Number Five written in a very strange way) was opened in a beautiful location next to it. It lived its golden age in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The parking lots were full, ships were routed there from the nearby towns of Tampere and Orivesi, and business was going well.
By the 1990’s, the once so advanced highway was overcrowded. As the scenery was valuable and a new motorway was thought to damage it too much, the road was routed elsewhere. The new road was completed in 2000, and the old one became a quiet regional route.
The motel-restaurant served for a surprisingly long time. Back in 2015 it was still advertising pizza and lunch buffets, but in 2017 it was put up for sale. Apparently things quieted down in between, and the place was completely vandalized soon afterwards.
Sounds something for me.
There was a huge parking lot and a small petrol station next to it. They had seen better days.
The pumps were ancient by modern standards.
So this is what they look inside? And these machines have been taking my money for almost 20 years?
The motel, pub and restaurant building. The boards have been added in the spring or summer, as they weren’t there in old newspaper photos from early 2022.
The sign claims that the buildings aren’t abandoned. Yeah, right.
The pub wing was to the right of the main entrance.
Surprisingly the mailboxes were intact.
There was another, newer log building on the lot.
The back entrance was really messy. Not abandoned, right?
But the views were really beautiful. I can see, why tourists came here back in the days.
The pub’s terrace.
Building toured. Everyting’s covered, and there doesn’t seem to be a reasonable point of entry anywhere.
The only way in seemed to be through the messy entrance at the back.
Looks like a lot of booze was left behind when the place closed. Or then a lot of drinking is done here with Estonian brewery products.
Whatever the case, this was my way inside.