THE STONE CASTLE OF PIRUNVUORI

THE STONE CASTLE
OF PIRUNVUORI
Stone Castle Opening Times
4.6. - 30.6.2016 Sat-Sun 11am-5pm
1.7. – 31.7.2016 open daily 11am-5pm
1.8. – 31.8.2016 Sat-Sun 11am-5pm
Art Exhibition:
Heidi Piippo – Luonto minussa
Free entrance, W e l c o m e !
EMIL DANIELSSON
Artist Emil Danielsson (1882-1967) was born on 7.August 1882 in Tula, Russia. In
1886 Danielsson’s family moved to Turku, where Emil attended a Swedish-speaking
classical middle school. The young man had high hopes for the future: He was supposed to become a rich man and a pharmacist. He even had a pharmacist’s apprentice
position arranged, but ended up applying for drawing school.
Emil Danielsson began his art studies aged 16, at the Finnish Art Society drawing
school in Turku. He received his certificate from school in 1901, as well as his first and
only grant of 200 marks; for the rest of his life he refused to apply for artist grants. In
1903 artist Danielsson came to spend the summer at Heinoo in Karkku. Between 1904
and 1905 Emil Danielsson studied in Florence, Italy. He also made journeys to study in
Italy in 1901 and 1904, and a long study journey to France and Italy in 1925.
Danielsson tried a number of styles whilst searching for his own. He felt that an artist
must try things, but a responsible artist has to know his own limits. He himself settled
on clean realism.
Danielsson’s works have been exhibited publicly since 1901. His works have been exhibited abroad in Stockholm and Oslo in 1929 and in Antwerp and Amsterdam, Holland, in 1931. He has also held his own exhibitions around his home regions and at the
Stone Castle on Pirunvuori. An exhibition in his honour was held at the old vicarage in
Vammala in 1982.
PIRUNVUORI AND THE STONE CASTLE
In 1906 Emil Danielsson had the Pirunvuori atelier castle built, using natural stones.
The building was erected in its rocky nature setting using the strength of a few local
men. The upper parts of the castle were made using a kind of crane; three timber pillars were stood up in the ground and nailed together with a nail, a cylindrical block
placed between the pillars, a crank and some chains. The chains were placed around
the stones and they were winched up. No mortar or other material was used between
the stones; they were simply shaped with a sledge hammer and chisel so they fitted
together, and then laid on top of each other.
Emil Danielsson and his wife Aurora (maiden name Andelin, known as Saga) always
came to Pirunvuori for the summers. Their winters were spent in their other homes in
Helsinki, Turku and Tampere until, in the 1930s, they bought the Rokka house on the
south-east slope of Pirunvuori. The last summer that Emil Danielsson spent at Pirunvuori was the summer of 1966. He died in Helsinki on 16.7.1967.
Pirunvuori and the Karkku region were popular places to visit already in the mid1800s. A lookout tower was built on the hill in 1905 and boat trips from Karkku to
Pirunvuori were started. The artist brought water and sandwiches to the castle and
sold them to tourists.
The Danielssons left the Stone Castle to the Tyrvää Region Local Association in their
will, and the Association became the castle’s owner in 1975. In 1983, after Mrs. Aurora
Danielsson’s death, the Local Association also received 18 of Emil Danielsson’s paintings and sketches, statues of Yrjö Liipola and Richard Rautalin and various other personal items, to be kept as a collection of memorabilia.
In a gift deed dated 14.2.1990, the Local Association donated the Stone Castle and the
above mentioned works and memorabilia to the Town of Vammala.
The renovation of the Stone Castle began in the autumn of 1997, during which the inside wall surfaces, floors and the shingle roof were renewed. The renovation was partly funded by the EU’s regional development fund and the state, with the Town of
Vammala bearing most of cost. The work was completed and the opening ceremony for
the newly renovated Stone Castle was held on 4.9.1998.
There are many stories and legends about Pirunvuori and the Stone Castle. Tradition
has it that people would go to the mouth of the cave that leads into the depths of Pirunvuori to ask for answers. The answer would echo back from the depths of the cave.
One was not to stay for too long, however, or the weather would turn and the visitor
would be caught in the clutches of the ensuing storm. Just a little tip for anyone wishing to see whether the old tale holds any truth.
BOOKING AND INFORMATION
Town of Sastamala / Cultural Services
The Stone Castle Tel +358 40 539 8481 (Opening times)
Secretary Tel. +358 40 517 1671
Cultural Director Tel. +358 50 320 8462 / 040 637 2443
www.sastamala.fi/kivilinna
VuoriHotelli Tel. +358 20 7780 480
Sources: Taiteilijaseuran matrikkeli, Sastamala Local Museum’s
collection of news clippings, Newspaper articles,
Sydän-Sastamalan kuvataiteilijat, editor Raimo Viitala
Raimo Seppälä: Pirunvuori. Art and Stories
Photographs: Arja Valtonen