Culture in Rauma is based on the town's traditional culture, on the foundation of which it has been easy to construct settings for modern cultural institutions and various hobbies.

The town's vibrant centre is Old Rauma, which UNESCO lists as a World Heritage Site. You can familiarise yourself with Rauma's history in four museums. Rauma Museum operates by the marketplace in the former Town Hall built in 1776. Rauma is known as the lace town, where the lace-making tradition has been passed down to new generations, and part of this museum is dedicated to lace.

Marela is the preserved home of a ship-owning family and Kirsti, which is open during the summer months, introduces a seaman's life. Open in the summer, the potter's workshop shows the conditions and livelihood of a stove tile worker.

In the summer of 2004, the Rauma Maritime Museum was opened in the old maritime school, where you can, for instance, have a go on a navigation simulator, the only one in a Finnish museum.

There are two art museums in Rauma: Rauma Art Museum and Lönnström Art Museum. In addition to a range of temporary exhibitions, both museums offer a wealth of activities such as art workshops, lectures and concerts.

The new building of Rauma town theatre by the river Rauma opened in 2005. The theatre seats nearly 200. The programme includes plays for adults and children.

The cinema Iso-Hannu caters to the friends of film around the year, with showings on two screens every day.

Check the event calendar to see what is happening in Rauma.

Leisure activities

Rauma provides opportunities to explore many hobbies. During the winter season, the adult education centre offers the opportunity to become involved with foreign languages, music, the fine arts, theatre, and crafts. The courses offered by the adult education centre enable you develop your skills in nearly all areas of life.

Choirs, orchestras, art circles etc. that operate on an association basis are constantly looking for new members.

Rauma's Music Institute offers music education, the town's Fine Art School for children and youth provides basic art education, and the Rauma School of Dance teaches dancing in styles ranging from classical to jazz.

Library services

Rauma has an extensive and versatile library network. In addition to the magnificent main library, which opened in January 2004, the town has three local libraries. There is also a mobile library which has nearly 50 stops in the Rauma region.

There are more than 300,000 books, 30,000 audio visual recordings (CDs, DVDs, videos, and CD ROMs) and 800 newspaper and magazine volumes available to members. The library system provides more than 30 electronic workstations for use free of charge. In addition to Internet connections, these offer various species of software, for applications such as word-processing and e-mail. In addition, the main library has research rooms, a room for microfilm reading, meeting and training facilities and an art lending office. Throughout the year, the library hosts many events - including story time for children, exhibitions and author visits. Rauma Town Library

Updated: 11.06.2008