MP30 – Home of the old In the heart of Rauma

Old Rauma, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2021. Old Rauma was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1991 as a unique example of a living and well-preserved old Nordic tree city.

In the 14th part of the 30th anniversary of Old Rauma as a World Heritage Site series, you can find out what it is like to live in Old Rauma.

Home in the heart
of Old Rauma

Old Rauma has around 800 inhabitants and around 600 buildings, most of which are owned by private individuals. Heta Kaisto and Antti Ikonen moved to Rauma from Helsinki just over a year ago. They found a suitable rental home in the heart of the World Heritage Site of Old Rauma, in a house called Jussla on Eteläpitkäkatu.

Heta and Antti’s home is located on a valuable plot of land, where the house of the Mayor of Rauma was located in the 1500s. This house burnt down in the 17th century, and the oldest parts of the current house have been preserved from the 1700s. The house has been renovated in accordance with traditional methods.

When the couple was looking for a home in Rauma, Old Rauma was their only option. Heta works as a curator at the Rauma Art Museum and Antti is a composer and lecturer at Aalto University.

• We want to understand and experience life in the city by living in it. We both like urban living. In Old Rauma, we have a wide range of services within walking distance, and the vibrant city centre is around us all the time,” says Heta.

Heta and Antti often visit restaurants and shops in Old Rauma. They have also become familiar with the wide range of cultural services, the Iso-Hannu cinema and local entrepreneurs.

Old Rauma is a popular tourist destination, so there are plenty of tourists on the winding streets all year round. Heta and Antti don’t find the interest of strangers distracting, but rather relevant – humour goes a long way in different encounters.

It’s great that a World Heritage Site is genuinely linked to real life here,” says Antti.

Wooden housing is
a way of life

A living environment also requires work and care. Living in an old building can be called a way of life.

• Old Rauma requires patience. Caring for buildings requires skill, diligence and attention. Here, the values of the good life, deeply rooted, meet. We would say that Old Rauma is certainly a place for people with a beautiful and poetic soul. It’s also a romantic place, Heta and Antti reflect.

But for a busy person, Old Rauma is not the place to be. You have to have time to enjoy living, the atmosphere and city life.

• Old Rauma offers the good things of city life in a unique form and in a unique environment. Living in a World Heritage Site does not necessarily require great wealth, but it does require skills and interest,” says Heta.

The seasons are also felt and seen differently in an old wooden house. Caring for the house also provides a rhythm to Heta and Antti’s everyday life.

It is rewarding to experience the changing seasons, because they can be felt inside the house. In winter the fireplaces are in heavy use and in summer the windows have to be kept open. The house lives its own time, which also binds the residents to a certain rhythm, Antti says.

Protecting world heritage together

The people of Old Rauma are keen to help and to be part of a community. The living environment is cared for together.

• We have received many tips from the neighbourhood, for example on how to maintain the façade of the house. Old buildings and Old Rauma have a lot of common rules that you may not know about,” says Heta.

Heta and Antti hope that young people will also become interested in Old Rauma as a place to live.

• Vanha Rauma offers a quality and enjoyable everyday life with services and people.