The Forest Finns are one of the five national minorities in Norway. The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is now preserving the cultural monument ria from Revholtet farm, as part of a major initiative to protect the cultural heritage of national minorities.
The Directorate for Cultural Heritage is preserving a remaining Forest Finnish rie - a traditional drying house for rye. The drying house originally stood at Revholtet farm near Svullrya in Grue municipality and was dismantled and moved to the Glomdal Museum in Elverum in 1973. It is one of two preserved barns in Norway.
- It is a culturally and historically important building because it shows traditional forest Finnish ways of life and building techniques. Ria fra Revholtet tells the story of life in Finnskogen, and is a key cultural monument from one of our five national minorities. We would like to thank everyone who has contributed to preserving the knowledge of Finnskogen culture, from individuals to museums and institutions," says Hanna Geiran, Minister for Cultural Heritage.
A rie is a Forest Finnish drying house for sweat rye and is a key building in the Forest Finnish building tradition.
It is a one-room house made of timber. The rye has gaps in the walls, whose function was to let out the moisture that occurred during the drying process. The roof is also high to accommodate the rye bands that were placed on long logs.
Characteristic forest Finnish building
Ria as a building type has had several functions. Like the sauna, it could be used for short periods as a residence, and by people who lived as so-called «innersters», or on the farm.
Ria was part of a complex multi-year production process linked to the use of firewood. In the first year, the trees were felled. In the second year, the trees were burned and the hay rye was sown in the ash layer, before the third year the rye was allowed to grow and finally harvested. After the rye had been harvested, it was dried in the ria.
It is this production process that is known as sweat lodging. Together with the smokehouse and sauna, the ria is one of the most characteristic and traditional types of building on a Forest Finnish farm, all three equipped with smoke stoves.
Today, the ria is part of the building collection of the Glomdal Museum. Here it stands alongside other Forest Finnish buildings, which together represent a Forest Finnish farmstead from the 19th century. The open-air museum is open for visits from May 15 to September 15, but you must buy a ticket to gain access during opening hours.
