Located in Finland, Parikkala Sculpture Park is a creation of Veijo Rönkkönen, an introverted man that spent nearly 50 years carving sculptures in that particular area of Finland. It is a place that you won’t find on Wikipedia, you’ll need to experience it for yourself. There is no admission fee but donations are accepted to help preserve the works of art.
Parikkala Sculpture Park lives on with visitors to take a look at Veijo Rönkkönen’s creations even after his death. There are divided sections but upon your entrance to the heart of this park, you’ll see dozens of sculptures and they all appear to be in yoga poses. Most of the sculptures are covered in mossy growth.
The next section of Rönkkönen’s sculpture garden features mischievous children. Due to the lack of mossy covering compared to the last section, this one looks more modern. It is not sure whether Rönkkönen used different materials or treatments for this section that results in less moss growth or these sculptures are just newer.
Pictures: Sidewalk Safari
Other than these two major parts, wildlife statues of common animals such as frogs, owls, and an ostrich can also be seen at Parikkala Sculpture Park. Sculptures of exotic animals like an Australian kangaroo were there too. As you walk further into the park, the sculpture will get odder and odder. There is a raging T-rex dinosaur among the mossy yoga statues.
Pictures: Sidewalk Safari
On a narrow path around the back of the whole place, there is a sculpture of a guy standing with his arms wide open as if he was saying “Gimme a hug!”. Around the log cabin at the center of Parikkala Sculpture Park, there were a number of modern caricatures and ancient Greeks dressed in togas and laurel wreaths.
Pictures: Sidewalk Safari
The mentioned sculptures were already weird enough but the last sculpture is the strangest one to exist at Parikkala Sculpture Park. A guy was leaning against a tree and his eyes were twinkling. One interesting fact about the sculptures is, they all have strange eyes and teeth! Some people say that the creator used real human teeth in his sculptures but it was never proven.
