History
The Niuvanniemi mental hospital situated in rural milieu by the Kallavesi sea, was built according to the so called farm-system in 1881-85. Originally the hospital consisted of separate buildings for different kinds of patients; for men and women, for those who could work and for those who where regarded as incurable, etc. The hospital used to be a self-sufficent unit and the patients took part in farming and gardening The buildings form three different courtyards ; the hospital buildings with offices, the laundry-yard and the buildings for agricultural purposes. Today Niuvanniemi state mental hospital concentrates on forensic psychiatry and the treatment of most severe psychiatric cases. It houses the Forensic Clinic of Kuopio University.

Architecture:
The oldest pavillions of Niuvanniemi hospital are stone buildings situated symmetrically round a courtyard, each pavillion having also its own courtyard closed by a fence.The architecture is quite modest, with features of neo-renaissance. Smaller buildings , ment for housing and farming are in most cases of wood. The hospital area, 100 hectares in total, is protected by law.