Olipas hyvät löylyt! - The Sauna Project

Rajaportti Sauna

Sauna culture in Finland has changed in recent decades and many of the original public saunas that are an essential part of sauna culture have disappeared. Fortunately, a few of these saunas still exist and if you have never experienced an old public sauna, you have never seen a real sauna. They all offer a very special atmosphere.

Finland’s oldest operating public sauna is Rajaportin Sauna in Tampere. For more than 100 years, residents of Pispala (former working-class district of Tampere) and all other sauna lovers are welcome to enjoy the soft infusion and unique experience. Everyone is open-minded and the atmosphere is usually very chatty. People come here not only to bathe and relax, but also to meet friends and socialize.

When I was working on my project in Tampere for two months, the best thing was to take a sauna in Rajaportti every other day. Talking to the guests and also the members of the Pispala sauna association, I learned a lot about the origins of public sauna culture in Finland.

However, it is such a complex subject that it will take a lifetime of research. On each visit, I listened to the life stories of visitors who, in one way or another, are always connected to Rajaportti Sauna. I realized how indispensable the sauna really is to Finns, and that’s what it’s all about in the end ... It’s about the people!

To be continued ...