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Home & Garden Articles
A Short History of the Sauna
Mon 31 Dec 2007 - 10:32
A Short History of the Sauna
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Oak]Thomas Oak
The history of the sauna is, literally, the history of the Finnish people. The role of the sauna in the history of the Finns is deeply ingrained. Indeed, the exact origins of the sauna are unknown, with records of saunas going back for several centuries.
As families would move from place to place, often the sauna was the first shelter built, with the family living in it, cooking in the stove, bathing and providing a clean, warm place for mothers to give birth.
While we do not know, for example, the name of the inventor of the sauna, we do know the evolution of the sauna. Originally holes dug in the side of a sloping hill, the sauna was both shelter from the elements and living quarters in the cold Finnish winters. They had fireplaces with chimneys, which, when hot, would have water poured over them, generating intense heat. In order to cope with the heat, the residents would take off their clothes.
Eventually, fireplaces gave way to metal wood burning stoves, complete with metal chimney flues. The stoves were better at maintaining a regular heat, often around 180 degrees, but temperatures of over 200 were not uncommon.
Beginning about 1950 or so, electric stoves began to come into use and gain popularity, being much easier to regulate and control than their wood burning predecessors, and capable of sustaining higher temperatures. The latest trend has been toward far infrared heating units, which have started to gain popularity in recent years.
The resulting heat would cause the bathers to sweat generously, causing them to believe that it would purify their body from harmful toxins. Despite it's use for this purpose later, particularly in North America. The Finns did not use the sauna to lose weight or as a gentle form of exercise. Rather, they used it for its therapeutic benefits, seeing it as a place to refresh their spirit, to cleanse their mind and bodies and even to help prepare their dead for burial.
These days, the Sauna has gone mainstream, with public saunas being available in most gymnasiums and public spas throughout North America. Many contractors now offer them as an option when building up-scale homes and many public swimming pools offer them as well. In Finland, they are literally everywhere, from public saunas, to private homes, to even being in Government buildings and in the House of Parliament.
While the history of the sauna may be hazy, one thing is certain: The future of the sauna seems bright and certain.
Thomas Oak writes articles for http://www.hot-sauna.com/ if you are in the market for a target=_new
new sauna stop and take a look at what of all the latest information on new saunas and target=_new [http://www.hot-sauna.com/saunaheater.php]sauna heater for your home.
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