ARS Sippola 2017 exhibition in Antares Art Center

Village of history and culture

At first there was cheese, then came art. If you thought that Sippola is just one village amongst others, you couldn’t be more wrong.

Sippola offers many kinds of activities for travelers. You can swim, spend time in a beautiful arboretum or have a drink in the “local’s livingroom” Baarman’s Neuvola. Sippola has a long and eventful history, but is nowadays focused also on culture.

History and epicures

When you’re walking at the village center, you can’t miss the church tower that is rising towards the sky. The building is already the third church in Sippola, which is a good example of the village’s colorful history. Just near the main church is a small chapel, where you can feel the atmosphere of the old cemetery and see graves of notable local people.

Speaking of notable people, Rudolf Klossner developed Finland's first Emmental cheese in Sippola Manor dairy. The master cheesemaker had been invited to the dairy by Alexander von Daehn, a prominent man in Sippola, who had fallen in love with the taste of Emmental on a trip to Switzerland. The original cheese pot is still hanging in a tree as a proof! When you’re looking at the pot, it’s easy to imagine how the unique treat has been bubbling 160 years ago.

At the dairy, the love of food culture has changed to another kind of culture, as nowadays it serves as Antares Art Center. Antares offers art exhibitions and residences for artists.