Rajaportin Sauna

Tampere, Finland

Rajaportin sauna is the oldest working public sauna in Finland. It was founded in 1906 by Hermanni Lahtinen and his wife Maria. The main building with bakery and a shop was erected first, then followed by a smaller cottage, the sauna and a so called “taylor’s house”.

Today, the Rajaportti block belongs to the city of Tampere. Since 1989 the Pispala sauna association has been responsible for activities at Rajaportti and for maintenance of the premises. At the turn of the millenium, a Sauna café was included and premises for a masseur was provided.

Reference: Rajaportin Sauna

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Details

Founded: 1906
Category: Miscellaneous historic sites in Finland
Historical period: Russian Grand Duchy (Finland)

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Matti Seppänen (3 years ago)
Communitial athmosphere!
Matti Seppänen (3 years ago)
Communitial athmosphere!
Petri Edelmann (3 years ago)
Nice atmosphere and unique experience. Oldest operational public sauna in Finland.
Petri Edelmann (3 years ago)
Nice atmosphere and unique experience. Oldest operational public sauna in Finland.
Diego Tan (4 years ago)
I’ve been to several saunas in Helsinki, up north in Lapland and even one in Tallinn, Estonia - but this particular one does get pretty HOT, even with just a tiny throw of ‘löyly’. Comparing to those ones, this is definitely more old school, more traditional and undoubtedly more authentic. There are even no lockers, only hooks and benches. Deeper in, you only have a fairly small room with two levels: down is where you bathe and up is where you get steaming. The ‘hardcore’ part is that everyone gets to experience the same level of heat, with no seating levels like you see in most saunas nowadays. It would’ve been awesome if there was a pool/ice swimming hole, but the cold water hose and going outside did it just fine for me. I love the cafe next door, when you can get beer, coffee, pastries and best of all, sausages with ketchup and mustard. The people in there are so, so friendly and welcoming - I had a pleasant chat with some of them in there and they were more than happy to guide you through the process. You get a mix of locals, people from all around Finland and tourist like myself, but we all got along so well, it was terrific. Otherwise it’s also completely fine if you just want to sit there to relax and meditate. If you want an authentic, unique, no-frills sauna, then I urge you to go to Rajaportti sauna. The absolute heart of Finnish culture. Easily accessible by bus from central Tampere. A sausage with plenty of fluids to relax afterwards will complete your day, and you’ll then realise the good decision you’ve made of coming all this way to Finland just to experience this.
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