Written by The sauna is a strong institution in Finland and has been for many, many years. Most people have regular saunas in their homes and sauna and if you holiday in Lapland you will find one in most if not all log cabins in Lapland. Hotels also have regular sauna and is a regular part of life for people in sauna daily. The history of the sauna in Lapland goes back at least a thousand years, and during the construction or building a new home, the sauna was the first priority. The sauna has become a place to eat and many women gave birth in them and has done so not that long ago. We can look back in history and see how the ideas were created, but there is no known evidence to suggest how the concept began to except to say that the holes are dug and possibly a fire, when the fire is out, people bathe. We know that smoke sauna, however, were developed very early and a smoke sauna is simply a home where there is no chimney. Pile of stones would be placed in the corner of the sauna and the fire could be lit, the fire would however take a long time to heat and smoke escape through a hole in the roof. These types of smoke saunas have been used into the 1920s until they were replaced by more effective means of radiators and faster.
Saunas smoke caused problems, however, one problem was the smoke and soot has also created problems in the sauna benches by the coating. Most sauna heaters use electricity today and stones help to keep control of temperature and retain heat. The heat in the stones can then be released by the jets of water on them to release a burst of heat in the sauna. The atmosphere is magical in a sauna, but electric heaters hinder the atmosphere, there is much to be said for sitting in a sauna with a wood stove where the fire can be seen and if you sauna with snow in Lapland piled high on the outside, really nothing more magical. For this reason, wood stoves have seen a revival of late.
