Kankaisten kartanolinna

English translation (from the Finnish)

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Description

Kankainen manor castle is one of the few stone residential manors built by the higher nobility that date from the Middle Ages, and one of the oldest residential castles in our country. Located in the farming district of the Maskunjoki valley, at the central area of Iron Age and medieval settlement, the castle manor built by the Horn family has its oldest parts from most likely the late 15th century. The building has preserved a form that derives from the building method of the medieval watchtowers common in Sweden.

The three-storeyed, rendered castle is almost cubic in form and is covered by a fairly steep tent roof ending in a chimney. The ground plan is square, following Swedish models. The symmetry of the façade and, among other things, the vertical axes of the window openings derive from the repair of 1756. On the second floor, the interiors are in the late 18th-century Gustavian style, with dado panelling, painted panels and glazed tiled stoves.

The courtyard is bordered symmetrically by two outbuildings from the 19th century. In addition, the manor grounds contain a stone distillery and several outbuildings, such as a former cattle building and a cowshed from the 19th century. The park surrounding the manor descends into a small river valley. The manor and Masku church have a landscape connection.

History

The first surviving documentary mention of Kankainen was made in 1346, when at least two farms existed in the village. Kankainen was probably formed into a manor in the 1410s by Klaus Lydekenpoika Diekn, who served as captain of Turku castle from 1411. Kankainen manor was owned by the Horn family from the 15th century, and Henrik Klaunpoika Horn had the present stone manor castle of Kankainen built in the mid-16th century. Parts of the building, including the cellar, were probably built already in the late 15th century.

The repair of the castle, in which the third floor was demolished, was carried out in 1762–1763 during the ownership of Professor Nils Hasselbom. The third floor was rebuilt in 1935 according to plans by Berndt Aminoff and Alb. Richardtsson. In the 1990s, ownership of the manor passed to the Åbo Akademi foundation.