The Vapriikki Museum Centre takes its name from the Swedish word for "factory". It is located in Tampere, in a former factory building, in one of the former workshops of the Tampella factory, whose industrial history began in 1840 with a small blast furnace. Metallurgical production was later merged with the textile industry, but despite the wide range of products produced - from locomotive to linen - the use of these buildings ceased completely in the 1990s.
Vapriikki is now a comprehensive museum centre spread over 4 floors with a total area of about 13,000 sq m. More than half of the building is dedicated to exhibition spaces, restoration workshops, research laboratories and photo archives.
Throughout the year there are about a dozen different exhibitions, temporary and permanent, on archaeology and contemporary art, history and technology.
Vapriikki also has the Finnish Hockey Hall of Fame, the Shoe Museum and the Doll Museum. In the History Museum, visitors can learn about the local flora and fauna of Tampere over the last 10,000 years. Those wishing to learn about samurai life and the history of the kimono visit the Inro Museum.
The visitor centre has an excellent restaurant and a museum shop offering a wide range of literature and gifts.
