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Founded: 1676Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Finland
Historical period: Swedish Empire (Finland)
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The history of Orisberg mansion dates back to 1676, when the mayor of Vaasa, James Rossi, with his partners were licensed to establish and ironworks to Orisberg. There were 11 owners, until in 1783 a Stockholm merchant and shipowner, Bengt Björkman, acquired Orisberg and several other ironworks in Finland. Due the nobility family name later was changed to Björkenheim.
Captain Lars Magnus and Lovisa Wilhelmiina Björkman host of the manor as a pair and they begged permission to hire a priest and build their own church. These permits were granted and the mansion was an independent parish for 40 years from 1828 to 1868. Orisberg church, bell tower and the parsonage was designed by architect Carl Ludvig Engel.
In addition to managing a small church pastor's duties included work as a teacher. Because there were not yet elementary schools the wealthiest people sent their children to school in Orisberg even over long distances.
Today Orisberg is one of the recreation centers run by Logos Ministries in Finland, an organization within the Lutheran Church of Finland. It offers services for visitors in the summer time. There are cabins for rent, well equipped camping area for tents and caravans, cooking facilities, sauna by a small lake. A café in an old vicarage serves delicious meals. The place still belongs to the manor Orisberg (Björkenheim), which is still a working farm.
The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.
