Muhola brings together a regionally significant landscape area and a village history shaped by early settlement, distinctive settlement patterns and cultural life. This offers several ways to plan your trip: the open, hilly landscape with its lakes, the village’s history or the summer theatre performances. You can explore Muhola according to the themes you want to focus on during your trip.
Hilly Landscape, Fields and Lakes
The Muhola landscape area covers 1,082 hectares. It is hilly and mostly open; the land was cleared for fields. The area includes several small lakes, including Häähköjärvi, Valkeinen and Lapinjärvi. Häähköjärvi drains via the Häähköjoki into the Häähkölahtea Bay of Kivijärvi.
The influence of the lake district is evident in the lusher vegetation compared with the Suomenselkä region proper. When planning your trip, you can therefore take two distinct aspects of the landscape into account: the open land cleared for fields and the vegetation that reflects the influence of the lake district.
Settlement and Archaeological Finds
Settlement in Muhola began in the 1560s, when Paavo Muhonen from Savonia established his farm on the site of today’s Jokela farmstead, in former hunting grounds of the Häme people. The founding of this farm connects a named individual and a specific location with the beginning of the settlement’s history.
Archaeological finds offer another way to explore the area’s history. More than 60 stone artefacts from an area of six square kilometres in the village were taken to a museum. The farm’s founding tells the story of a single settler and a specific farm; the finds relate to a wider area. Together, they provide different perspectives on Muhola: a named beginning and a broader archaeological context.
Settlement Pattern and Village Culture
The Muholan mökkikylä near the village centre was established in the early 20th century as a residential area for smallholders, craftsmen and people on low incomes. It illustrates a rare settlement of crofters and cottagers with historical and social significance, and is also important to the village’s landscape. The settlement therefore tells not only of a historical type of housing, but also of the social groups for whom the residential area was created.
Muttiteatteri is a professionally directed amateur theatre in the village of Muhola. It stages plays in summer; individual productions and dates vary. If a particular performance is important to your trip, check the dates for your chosen period.
The old log-built village school belongs to the Muholaseura association and serves as a multi-purpose building. It also offers suitable premises for larger events. Village life therefore includes not only the theatre but also a building with its own history and a multi-purpose function.
When looking for a holiday apartment in Muhola, you can match the purpose of your trip to the time of year: a particular theatre performance is tied to the summer programme, and individual dates vary. The landscape and village history offer other themes that are not linked to a particular production. If your stay is centred on the theatre, check the dates for your chosen period.
Discover more destinations: Petäjävesi, Rutalahti, Viitasaari, Karstula, Muurame, Toivakka, Laukaa, Lannevesi
For the broader travel overview: Central Finland.
