Santa Claus Village in Finland is located near the small town of Rovaniemi. A small village called Joulupukki invites you to visit the Finnish Santa Claus all year round. Fabulous Lapland is not only a place where you can see the northern lights, but also the permanent home of the real Santa Claus.

People no longer want to celebrate the New Year in tropical countries, but tend to the snow-covered land of Santa's homeland. Even teenagers who no longer believe in Santa Claus, once in Lapland, will again believe in a fairy tale. They will want to write a letter to Finnish Santa Claus and enjoy the kaleidoscope of entertainment this magical place has to offer.

Even if the celebration of the New Year is planned at one of the ski resorts in Finland, getting to visit Santa Claus is very simple and does not take much time. From any city you can buy a plane ticket and fly to Rovaniemi, and there any public transport will deliver you to the fabulous village in just 10 minutes.

How to get there

The address of Santa Claus in Lapland is the village of Joulupukki, which is located 8 kilometers from the Finnish town of Rovaniemi. It is located all 1000 kilometers from the Russian border. From St. Petersburg, having a visa, you can get by train, plane or bus in just a few hours. First you need to get to the capital of Finland, then to Rovaniemi, and from there buses run every hour.

Rovaniemi has an airport and a railway station, so residents of St. Petersburg have the opportunity to take tickets to the Santa Claus Village directly. From the railway station in Rovaniemi you need to take bus number 8. If tourists decide to travel to Finland on their own vehicles, then enter the name of the village of Joulupukki into the navigator device and you will arrive exactly at Santa's house.

Story

Everyone knows that the real birthplace of Santa Claus is Lapland. They say that it was this magical symbol of the New Year that created the famous Northern Lights. The first tourist to visit this place was Eleanor Roosevelt. The Finns built a hut in her honor, which can still be seen today.

The best time to visit Santa Claus Village is in winter, but Santa Park and the elves work there in the summer as well. After all, there are many children on earth and everyone writes letters that need to be processed and delivered to their destination. Santa reads all letters without exception, even if it was sent by e-mail.

The summer house of Santa Claus is located in the same village as the winter office, it began its work in 1950. There, on the shelves, volumes of books are crowded, where the scoundrels of the whole country and obedient children who receive gifts from Santa every year are inscribed. Finnish Santa Claus is helped by fabulous elves. To get into this magical house, you have to go through the clockwork.

On a note! In the village you can always go with a group, where the guide will talk about the history of this place, and buy memorable souvenirs. Be sure to write a letter from Lapland and send it to your relatives, the envelope will have the seal of the Arctic Circle.

Opening hours, ticket prices

Finnish Santa Claus receives guests all year round, but there are also days when it is impossible to get into the village. To plan a train, it is better to know the exact schedule of reception days:

• From September to the end of November: from 10 am to 5 pm.
• From January 7 to the end of May - from 10 am to 5 pm.
• From June to the end of August - from 9 am to 6 pm.
• From December 1 to January 6 - enhanced schedule from 9 am to 7 pm.

Children under three years old can see the Finnish Santa Claus for free, adults will pay about $40, and children from three to 18 years old - $35. This price includes not only a meeting with Santa Claus, but also a visit to Santa Park.

Letter to Santa Claus

In the village of Joulupukki, not far from Santa's house, there is a post office, which is crowded at any time of the year. Here you can write and send a letter to anywhere in the world with an imprint of the Arctic Circle, as well as leave a message to Santa Claus. Be sure to get unique cards with the wonderful landscapes of Lapland and the Northern Lights.

Santa's assistants work in the post office - fabulous elves, they will help you compose an interesting text. If the child is small and cannot write yet, the elves will write a letter for him in any language of the world. Each visitor will have the opportunity to have a photo shoot with all the villagers, warm up by the fireplace and watch the elves deliver mail bags to Santa.

The residence of Santa Claus in Finland has an official website, where every inhabitant of the earth also has the opportunity to send a letter to Santa Claus in electronic form.

Write down the addresses of the resources and be sure to send the cherished message:

• santaclausvillage.info;
• santaclausholidayvillage.fi.

On a note! Sending one letter costs about $15. Remember, no matter what time of the year the letter is written, if you put it in a red box, Santa Claus will read it on Christmas Eve.

Winter fun

Santa Park Rovaniemi is decorated like a fairyland. It will be interesting for people of all ages. There you can ride the rides, visit the school of elves, participate in games and competitions. Each child can attend calligraphy writing classes and Mrs. Claus's bakery, which bakes fragrant cakes. You can not only taste delicious gingerbread, but also participate in the process of their preparation.

Near Rovaniemi and on its territory there are many ski resorts. You can organize your vacation there, and visit Santa Claus on one of the days of your stay in Finnish territory. If you forget your equipment at home on vacation, it doesn’t matter, you can buy it at any Finnish store.

Despite the fact that the village is open all year round, experienced tourists are advised to come there in the winter. Snow-covered paths and New Year's lights, just in time to emphasize the eve of the New Year. Walking along the snow-covered paths, you involuntarily begin to believe in magic. You can make snowmen with the whole company and play hockey.

The village of Joulupukki offers activities for all ages:

• You can go ice skating on the frozen lake.
• Ride on snowmobiles, reindeer or dog sleds.
• Visit the ice houses and even have a tea party there.
• Try Finnish traditional dishes.
• Go ice fishing or take a steam bath in a Finnish bath.

On a note! Every visitor to a fabulous place should get acquainted with Santa's reindeer. They live near the magical grandfather's house.

Shops and restaurants

Dress warmly if visiting Finland during the winter and after seeing the local sights, go shopping. In each you can buy New Year's souvenirs at competitive prices.

If the children visited the workshop of the elves, then they can take all the handicrafts made with their own hands. Be sure to shop for Christmas decorations, Northern Lights slides and Finnish delicacies.

His sleigh is flying. His reindeer talk, his bag is always full of gifts. He is known all over the world and in each country they call him differently: Per Noel, Yulbokk, Futter Christmas, Santa Claus ... But in his homeland, in Finland, he is better known as Joulupukki.

In translation, the name does not sound too pretty - the Christmas goat. The Finnish Santa Claus received such a strange nickname thanks to the villagers who put on a goat coat on Christmas night and carried gifts home. They say that it was these impostors who frightened off Santa. He no longer walks the streets on Christmas Eve, but sits in his winter residence in Rovaniemi and welcomes everyone.

The owner of Rovaniemi sits in a small wooden house dotted with light bulbs. It is difficult to understand if Santa Claus smiles when little fans approach him ... Due to the abundant beard and mustache, his face is almost invisible. Only eyes, very wise and kind, look at visitors through glasses. "Are you good kids?" - with these words Santa meets little guests. We immediately warn you - it is useless to lie. You can't fool Santa. He knows everything. The huge books that line the high shelves in Santa's office can tell a lot about every child on the planet. Where he lives, whether he behaves well, what his desires are.

These Talmuds are filled with Santa's little helpers - gnomes. But Santa Claus receives information thanks to additional ears. Everyone knows that in the summer Joulupukki lives on Mount Korvatunturi. This mountain has three ears. They catch the slightest changes in the life of any child. And they are the first to tell Santa who stopped believing in the Christmas miracle. It is said that at these moments, starry rain falls over Korvatunturi, and the page with the story of the grown-up child turns white. The gnomes do not write anything on it, since Santa is convinced that someday adults will come to their senses and believe in him. Then forgotten names and surnames will reappear on blank pages.

The gnomes also help Santa deal with the letters. More than 600,000 letters arrive in Rovaniemi every year. And to re-read them all alone is beyond the power, even Santa Claus.

At the main Christmas post office, smoke is like a yoke. Little gnomes fill out forms, put stamps on envelopes, discuss some Christmas business. The chief assistant of Santa is in charge of all this artel. Her official title is "Chief Postal Gnome". Her duties include marking on the board how many letters have arrived, so that God forbid which one is not lost. The Chief Postal Gnome knows best what letters Santa likes the most. After talking with the Chief Gnome, we learned some golden rules in writing letters for Santa Claus. First, don't ask too much. Second, tell us more about yourself. And thirdly, Santa also loves gifts. A large glass cube is filled with nipples. These are gifts for Santa Claus. The value of an ordinary nipple lies in the fact that it is with this item that each of us began life. Santa himself does not use nipples, he gives them to little gnomes, with the condition that later the nipples will return to their place.

All the fuss at the post office, and in the village itself, stops at Christmas midnight. As darkness descends over Lapland and nothing but the stars are visible, the quiet ringing of Christmas bells sweeps through the village. This is a signal for Santa. It's time to go on a trip around the world. To have time to deliver gifts to everyone who managed to order them before morning. In writing, in words or just in dreams.

Is the North American Aerospace Defense Command tracking Santa's sleigh? In which state of America was a law passed, according to which the celebration of Christmas was considered a criminal offense and punishable by a fine?

Every person who believes in Santa Claus knows that his official residence is in Lapland. Joulupukki - this is exactly what Santa Claus sounds like in Finnish, or rather Santa Clausbecause he brings gifts to children at Christmas. Let's look at the history of this character.

In those centuries when Christianity had not yet established itself in Finland, people traditionally celebrated the Yule holiday - the winter solstice. According to legend, each person received a gift from the Yule goat. Another legend tells that a man with a gray beard, in a red hat and a goatskin coat, went from house to house. Later, all the images were generalized, and Joulupukki turned out - a Christmas grandfather distributing gifts to children. The Finnish Santa gives gifts to the child personally, he does not need to climb through the chimney or wait for the child to fall asleep.

Joulopukka's signature phrase: Are there obedient children in this house / Onkos taalla kiltteja lapsia? / Onkos taalla kiltteja lapsia?

Finnish Santa has a real passport. In the paragraph "date of birth" it says: "Once upon a time", and in the paragraph "marital status" - "married". Joulupukki's wife is Muori ("Auntie Christmas").

Muori and Joulupukki help the dwarfs manage the household, who on New Year's Eve form and beautifully decorate gifts. Gnomes appear from fir cones, which Auntie Muori gathers in the forest, and then puts into a huge cauldron and covers with a soft blanket. Gnomes "keep pace" in just one night.

Any citizen of Finland is proud that Santa lives in Lapland. On the slope of Mount Korvatunturi (the name translates as "Sopka-ears"), he has a hut, an office and a post office. The mountain got its name because in shape, if you look at it from a bird's eye view, it resembles hare or dog ears. Therefore, Joulupukki can hear the desires and dreams of any child, and all data is recorded in a magic book.

If a child ceases to believe in magic and a fairy tale, then the starry rain washes away all records about him. Joulupukki believes that someday these children will once again believe in a dream, and their names will again appear on the pages of his book.

You can tell Finnish Santa about your desires in a letter. Postal address: Finland, index 99999, Rovaniemi, Korvatunturi. Do not forget to glue the required number of stamps on the envelope.

Joulupukki's assistants spend the whole year in the "Echo Caves" and listen to how children from different countries behave, on New Year's Eve they sort out parcels and draw up gifts. Postmen bring about 700,000 letters daily.

There is a line running through Santa's village that marks the Arctic Circle. If you cross it for the first time, you will be awarded a diploma Not far from the village, a cozy guest house has been built where travelers can stay, and on a festive night they have the opportunity to invite Finnish Santa to visit them.

Interesting facts about Santa Claus

In the UK, Santa is called Father Christmas;

The Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in North America regularly monitors the movements of the Santa Claus team. In fact, this is not their direct responsibility, it all started with the fact that a certain department store mistakenly issued the organization's phone in an advertising brochure for the phone of Santa's office. Hundreds of children began to call to hear the voice of Santa, and the management decided to take on the responsibility of following the route of the winter wizard every year;

In Massachusetts, there has long been a ban on celebrating Christmas. The Puritans did not approve of the libations and fun that were indispensable attributes of the holiday. In 1959, the celebration of Christmas was equated with a criminal offense and was punishable by a fine (5 shillings). The law was repealed only in 1681. All residents of the United States began to celebrate this holiday only in the second half of the 19th century;

28.12.2016

Christmas in Finland is the most important holiday, which begins to be celebrated four weeks before December 25, with various entertainment events, fairs, concerts, religious ceremonies and more. This holiday existed in the country even before the adoption of Christianity, and subsequently changed to include more church traditions. Pagan rites, for example, the walking of mummers from house to house, also survived. Even the Finnish Santa Claus Joulupukki is the oldest character who acquired a modern human appearance only in the 19th century, and the name remained the same and means “Christmas goat”.

The history of the appearance of Joulupukka

The holiday of winter (winter solstice) Yule was celebrated in all countries of Northern Europe, which was inhabited by ancient Germanic tribes until about the 7th century. The Finns had a tradition - to put on fur coats and straw masks with horns, depicting goats ("pukki"), and walk around the farms: first - singing songs and collecting treats, then - with gifts for children.

And so the Finnish “Santa Claus” appeared - the “Christmas goat” Joulupukki. Until the 19th century, he still wore a fur coat and horns turned inside out, and then he changed clothes according to the European standard - in a red caftan with a belt, a cap and boots, grew a long beard and put on fashionable glasses.

The residence of Joulupukki in Lapland

Santa Claus has his own residence in Finland. It is located in Lapland, not far from the border with Russia. There, on Mount Korvatunturi, the top of which resembles hare ears, stands the house of the chief winter wizard. Joulupukki lives there with his wife Muori and a team of gnome helpers. They not only help answer children's letters and wrap gifts, but also keep track of who behaves throughout the year. To do this, the gnomes make their way through the underground labyrinths into the mysterious "echo caves", and intensively eavesdrop from there.

Joulupukki does not invite guests to this house, but he will be happy to meet them in his office - the fabulous village of Joulukka near the city of Rovaniemi. Another place to visit is the magical Santa Park organized by the elves in the Arctic Circle, where the Finnish Santa Claus also frequents. Muori's wife often accompanies her husband on trips. She does housework, bakes delicious gingerbread, cooks porridge and spiced wine, and has her own Gingerbread Kitchen in Santa Park.

Reindeer Rudolph - assistant to Joulupukki

Reindeer Rudolph is Joulupukki's main assistant in delivering gifts around the world. But 7 more deer fly in a team with him, which he, as a senior, managed to teach his skills. Father Frost's Christmas route from Finland starts from the city of Turku, where at noon on December 24, near the town hall, he proclaims the beginning of the holiday. And then he has a whole 31 hours (not 24, due to the difference in time zones) to fly around all the kids on the planet.

Finnish "Santa Claus" Joulupukki does not hide from children and does not climb into the chimney at night. He just knocks on the door and distributes gifts personally - as was customary in ancient times.

Meeting directly the New Year in Finland is celebrated much more modestly than Christmas. Although, the night of January 1 is the only time when everyone is allowed to launch fireworks.

Every child and adult knows the main character of the winter holidays. The one who leaves gifts under the Christmas tree and charges the atmosphere with a holiday and New Year's fun. The legend associated with the unknown, who came to low-income families and gave gifts, appeared in the 4th century in Turkey. And to this day, there is faith in the mystical Santa Claus, who lives in Lapland surrounded by gnomes and delivers gifts on his deer. Someone is afraid of him, while others wait for him every year and dream of meeting him. But how is the Finnish Santa Claus different from the one we know? And why is Joulupukki the most famous Santa Claus in the world?

The Finnish Santa Claus is called Joulupukki, he lives at the North Pole and helps to bring the Christmas mood to every home in Finland. Joulupukki means "Christmas goat" in Finnish. In the Scandinavian countries, the Christmas goat was depicted wearing a straw hat and was associated with the herald of Christmas.

Two centuries ago, the Finnish Santa Claus was portrayed in the form of a goat with small horns. Now he looks like Santa Claus. He has a snow-white long beard, which completely hides his emotions, and only kind eyes are visible. Through the glasses, he examines all the children and asks: “Are you good children?”. Finnish Santa Claus in a red suit that always makes him stand out.

Also, the name of Joulupukki is associated with the historical celebration of the New Year by the Finns. Residents of small villages put on a goat coat and distributed gifts. Folk legends say that it was they who frightened Joulupukki and now he does not leave his Residence on a sleigh with deer.

Residence of the Finnish Santa Claus: where Joulupukki lives

Finnish Santa Claus lives in the north - in. Since the middle of the 19th century, Mount Korvatunturi has been his permanent residence. Mount Korvatunturi resembles ears. There are legends that this is what helps the Finnish Santa Claus to hear the dreams of all the children in the world. His wooden residence is adorned with light bulbs. And on the eve of Christmas is filled with noise and preparation for the holiday. Gnomes fill out Christmas cards, prepare gift lists, and sign forms.

To make sure the message reaches Joulupukki, many children write letters and send them to his official postal address: Finlandia, 99999, Korvatunturi. You just need to express your thoughts and desires, you can in the form of a picture, attach a stamp and send. Half a million letters come every year to a small but world-famous residence.

The temperature in Lapland reaches -30°C, but this does not prevent Joulupukki from making a holiday in people's lives, and even helps. He glides across the snow with ease on his sleigh, which is pulled by reindeer. The most important of them is Rudolf with a red nose, which lights the way. But only one reindeer Rudolf will not be able to visit all the children, so he has many such helpers.

The belief that Joulupukki is the real Santa Claus is so strong that many tourists come to meet him in Lapland and ride real reindeer. The impressions are indescribable, because this is an opportunity to feel like a real Santa Claus.

Joulupukka's wife

Joulupukki has a wife Finnish Snow Maiden - Joulumuori, who personifies winter. They live together in Lapland with gnomes and reindeer. When Joulupukki is not busy preparing for the Christmas holidays and having fun with the children, they spend time together. But before Christmas, everyone is busy preparing for the celebration. Also, Joulupukki, along with the gnomes, says a greeting in Finnish cities, which are located near Lapland.