Geopark Visitor Centre, Imatra Town Museum & Art Museum

The Imatra City Museum and the Art Museum are both located on the first floor of the Culture House Virta. The Imatra City Museum was established in 1981 and presents the history of the Imatra region, including the industrialisation and its effects. The Art Museum's collection consists of works owned by the City of Imatra and the Imatra Art Association.

The Saimaa Geopark Visitor Centre is located in the immediate vicinity of the main entrance to the Imatra House of Culture in Virta. The visitor centre offers a wealth of information on geology and the development history of the Saimaa region. By exploring the diverse rock samples in the geo-exhibition, you can take a deep look into the history of the area, dating back almost two billion years. A timeline and a collection of specimens covering the last 13 000 years illustrate the evolution of the Saimaa region after the ice age and early human life in the area.

Local culture 

There are also numerous maps showing the local geology. There is also a model of the formation and structure of the Salpa skerries, which gives a comprehensive picture of the forces that shaped the landscape during the Ice Age. There is also information on UNESCO Global Geoparks and on Geopark sites at home and abroad. The visitor centre is a great place to start your geo-tour in the Saimaa region.

The texts and images of the visitor centre’s exhibition can be found on Saimaa Geopark’s website in the database under the heading Geology and Ancient Culture. The maps and timelines of the exhibition are also in the database in connection with the title of the Saimaa Guide section, which deals with the whole region of the Geopark area.