Finland has nearly three million saunas for 5.5 million people
According to the portal "This is Finland", traditional saunas have long been a cornerstone of Finnish culture. However, in recent years, many unusual steam baths have appeared. It is now possible to enjoy a sauna in exotic places: from a Ferris wheel to the Helsinki waterfront.
When visiting a Finnish sauna in winter, don't forget to take a dip in an ice hole. It may sound daunting, but it's actually beneficial, and there's nothing more refreshing. Finnish docent Pirkko Huttunen from the University of Oulu found that the refreshing effect of winter swimming is good for the body – it improves blood circulation and speeds up metabolism. Huttunen concluded that frequent ice-hole swimming also lowers blood pressure.
Modern sauna culture has spawned a new accessories industry. In the sauna goods market, you can find special fragrances, hats, and stove decorations. The choice of sauna scents is vast: from the smell of smoke to the fragrance of birch leaves; the designs of sauna hats also surprise with their variety.
The sauna can be seen not only as an everyday part of Finnish culture but also as a luxury. One element of such luxury is the Finnish towel brand LuinSpa. Its creators wanted to bring a spa luxury feel to every sauna and thus began making high-quality towels, robes, and similar items for sauna enthusiasts.
Sauna stoves and stones are highly specialized technology. Finland has about 30 commercial sauna stove brands, which is perfectly normal for a country obsessed with saunas. According to Karita Harju, Executive Director of the Sauna from Finland network, Finnish sauna enthusiasts know their stoves. The largest stove brands in Finland are Harvia and Helo, with about 50 percent of their products sold abroad.
In Finnish culture, the sauna has always been considered a place of healing. There is a saying: "If vodka, tar, or sauna doesn't help, then the disease is fatal." It has now been proven that sauna really helps cure illnesses or at least prevent them. The medical journal JAMA Internal Medicine published a study from the University of Eastern Finland proving the health benefits of sauna. According to this study, frequent sauna use reduces the risk of cardiac arrest.
Located on the Helsinki coast, the Löyly sauna is perhaps the only sauna in Finland where people wear swimsuits (usually they are not worn in saunas). Löyly is a monument to the development of the modern sauna. It is an impressive building located in a beautiful spot on the Helsinki coast. It is an angular sculptural structure made of thermo-treated pine, with recessed terraces inside where you can sit. The building consists of two parts: public saunas and a restaurant.
Traditionally, men and women visit saunas separately, but the owners and architects of Löyly tried to make it a place where people could spend time with their friends regardless of gender. Therefore, swimsuits are worn in the sauna.
The architects who designed Löyly – Anu Puustinen and Ville Hara from Avanto Architects – believe that in the future, there will be more unisex saunas. "Finnish saunas will become more interesting and gain greater popularity worldwide; they will not only be valued for their healing properties but also considered a luxurious place for body cleansing. Now people see a sauna visit as a social event, so we think there will be more public bathhouses like Löyly in cities."
And the oldest operating public sauna in Finland is in Pispala (near Tampere). It has a large stove, or "kiuas," which heats stones weighing over 1000 kilograms in total. Heating this sauna is a challenging task because it requires meter-long logs. The heating process is quite long, and the steam stones are heated only once, but they are large enough to retain heat all day.
In Finnish culture, the sauna is a place where mind and body rest and cleanse, so you will have to switch your mobile phones to silent mode. Just listen to the soothing hiss of the stones.
Finland has about three million saunas, with a population of only about 5.5 million. This ratio means that some saunas are not used very often. For this reason, Helsinki came up with Sauna Day.
The idea of Helsinki Sauna Day is that anyone with a sauna can invite people there through a special app. The city is full of saunas that are not used, as well as saunas that people don't know about: private saunas, saunas in apartment buildings, etc. Sauna Day is celebrated by all saunas and their enthusiasts.
With the development of sauna culture, more and more new exotic saunas are appearing. In Finnish Lapland, in Ylläs, you can steam your muscles after skiing in a ski lift sauna cabin. Such a cabin descends from the top of Ylläs hill and accommodates four people.
In Helsinki, there is a sauna with a beautiful sea view at a height of 40 meters above ground – it's a Ferris wheel cabin. The unique suspended sauna cabin by Sky Sauna is designed for five people, and it's probably the hottest way to enjoy the views of Helsinki. After the sauna, it's nice to take a bath firmly on the ground. To do this, after descending from the sky to the ground, you can relax in a jacuzzi.
Next to the Ferris wheel, there is another novelty – the Allas sea pool. The unique complex combines seawater pools, urban culture, and, of course, saunas.
Like most large cities, Helsinki has a Burger King, but with a twist – a sauna located downstairs in the restaurant, accommodating 15 burger and steam lovers. Yes, food can be ordered directly to the sauna.