FINLAND – THE MOTHERLAND OF THE SAUNA
In Finland, saunas are simply an integral part of the everyday life. It is likely that the Finnish people have had the sauna for about two thousand years, although the oldest known documents witness about their existence only about thousand years ago.
"We go to the sauna two to three times a week - it's a Finnish thing. It's a holy place for Finns. Eighty or 100 years ago it was even normal for people to be born in saunas in the countryside, because they were such healthy places." (Riku Jaro, organizer of the World Sauna Championship).
Thus, it represents an important part of Finnish identity. Among total Finnish population of 5.1 millions, there are 1.7 million of saunas which is an amazing number. Finnish people could never manage without saunas. First saunas were built in the yards outside the living area, then inside terraced houses and buildings, where they would be shared by all the families living there. In towns all over Finland, they have usually had public saunas. Today, most of the people have saunas in their flats and houses.
As it is a part of individual lives, a sauna is a standard element of business and state institutions as well. Each successful enterprise in Finland has its own sauna or sauna suite where many important agreements are made, and which are used for the entertainment of business partners or guests.
For Finnish, sauna is almost a sacred place. In the ancient times women gave birth in saunas and today, just few-months old babies take their first sauna. Sauna is a Finnish national institution, present in their heritage as an often motive in literature, paintings, music and films… We can say that the Finns are not the only sauna devotees in the world, but for sure they are the specific sauna nation which has kept the traditions and sauna culture in their most authentic form.
"There is nothing that Finns have been so unanimous about as their sauna. This unanimity has remained unbroken for centuries and is sure to continue as long as there are children born in their native land, as long as the invitation still comes from the porch threshold in the evening twilight: ‘The sauna is ready’.”
(Maila Talvio 1871-1951)
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