The increasingly unusual saunas of Sweden and Finland

Sweden and Finland They offer increasingly unusual saunas, such as immersing yourself in an old mine 90 meters deep or relaxingly enjoying the steam inside the cabin of a ferris wheel.

About 90 meters deep, under the bluish light of a flashlight, steaming bodies emerge from a sauna before immersing themselves in the turquoise water of an underground lake.

In Sweden, among the frozen Swedish landscapes and snowy forests of Bergslagen (center), there is – hidden in the bowels of this mining region – a very particular sauna that opened its doors in 2022 in the city of Borlange.

The old iron mine closed in 1968 was rebuilt to welcome clients seeking warmth and, above all, a “special experience“, explains to AFP Daniel Karlsson, president of “Adventure Mine”.

“Saunas today are a luxury experience. “Here it is not just a sauna, it is a special experience with nature,” he states, dressed in a red suit and his helmet adorned with a lantern.

Buried underground, this space offers a respite completely isolated from the world.

“We don’t see the sun from the mine. There is nothing to distract us from the pleasure of the sauna. “No cell phones, no sun, no wind,” Karlsson details.

Appreciated worldwide for its relaxing qualities, the sauna, a wooden hut in which a dry heat bath is taken with a temperature of up to 100°C, has been a social and family tradition for more than 2,000 years. It originates from Finland and Estonia.

Proximity to the environment

Nowadays some lovers of this tradition want to expand the experience. In Helsinki, the capital of Finland, the Ferris wheel that dominates the city center offers a sauna in one of its cabins. The cost of a session is high, ranging between 240 and 350 euros (US$ 256 and US$ 374).

“You can get a good steam-to-heat ratio if you want, even if it’s quite small. Up to four or five people can be accommodated. Plus, the views are more fun” than in a traditional sauna, says Vivi Makelainen, head of the Helsinki Ferris wheel.

Declared Intangible Heritage by UNESCO since 2020, the sauna tradition is well-rooted in the Nordic country. It has about 3.3 million saunas for 5.5 million inhabitants, according to the world organization.

Although saunas are generally located in the privacy of Nordic chalets or apartment buildings, in the Stockholm archipelago, in Sweden, a small house floats on the waters of the capital.

Is about “Big Branzino”, a 30 m² luxury sauna, designed and built in 2022 at the request of a Swedish private client.

“He came to our office and asked for a really extraordinary sauna, something unprecedented. “So we came up with this shape to maximize proximity to the environment.”explains architect Johan Strandlund.

The small wooden structure, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows, also includes a rooftop terrace. On the bridge there is an open-air space for the helmsman.

“Even when the sauna is not in operation, the fire is still an excellent source of heat for cold summer nights,” Add.

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