Still Hot After All These Years

Did you know that the Finnish sauna has existed for at least 2,000 years. While the people of Finland are perhaps most closely associated with hot saunas, interesting variations of the sweat bath can be found in the histories of other cultures. Close equivalents include the Native American inipi or sweat lodge, the Roman thermae or public bath, the Russian banya, and the Turkish hammam or steam bath.

Experts maintain that the earliest Finnish saunas were dug into hills or embankments. These evolved into above-ground saunas fashioned from wooden logs. Further evolution saw metal wood stoves and chimneys replace or, as some sauna scholars might contend, supersede the original heating system.

Electric sauna stoves debuted in the mid-20th century, followed some years later by far infrared saunas. Also known as infrared heat therapy rooms, radiant heat saunas and soft heat saunas, far infrared saunas utilize far infrared energy to warm the sauna bather more directly than traditional Finnish saunas allow.

For more information, visit greatsaunas.com