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The prototype of Santa Claus was Saint Nicholas, who was born in the III century in the city of Patara (Asia Minor, Lycia)
from very wealthy parents. Saint Nicholas is one of the most revered Christian saints.
This honor fell to him for his great kindness to people and for the many miracles he performed. He later became a bishop
in the city of Mira (now Demre, a small town near Phoenicia), so he received the name
Myrlikian. In this town, he even erected a monument. Some countries say that
St. Nicholas threw purses stuffed with gold into the houses of the poor, and many believe that
the saint tossed purses through the chimney, and they fell into the shoes, which were left to dry by the hearth.
Therefore, in many Western European countries, New Year's gifts are still accepted today, especially for children,
hide in boots, shoes, or shoes. European settlers who settled in America in
VII and XVIII centuries, they brought with them the legends about St. Nicholas. One of the first churches built
in what was then New York, there was Sinter Klaas or Sint Nicholas, later called "Santa Claus".
Where was Santa Claus born?
The modern image of the good-natured fat Santa Claus appeared in the United States relatively
recently, on Christmas Day 1822. It was then that Clement Clarke Moore wrote the poem "The Coming of the Saint
Nicholas", in which the Saint appeared as a cheerful and cheerful elf with a round tight
belly, indicating a passion for delicious food, and with a smoking pipe. IN
as a result of the reincarnation, Saint Nicholas got down from the donkey, got eight deer and in his hands
there was a bag of gifts.
Where does Santa Claus live
Many northern countries are still arguing about where Santa Claus lives. Some believe that he lives
at the northern pole, others - that he settled in the town of Rovaniemi in northern Finland.
In modern Finland there is even a special service for answering on behalf of Santa Claus,
and this is understandable, because on average, in December, up to 80 thousand letters are received in his name from children of different
countries with requests and wishes.
The English Santa Claus comes from the nickname Sinterklaas (from the word "ash") St. Nicholas
(in the Orthodox tradition of St. Nicholas) the first Dutch settlers in America.
He was considered the patron saint of sailors and children, for whom he prepared gifts all year, and on Christmas
night he delivered them and left them in stockings prepared for gifts. Indeed, it was considered
later, and among the Dutch, Sinterklaas was rather a stern educator, for he poured ashes into the stockings of those
children who behaved inappropriately.
The main Christmas character gained particular popularity
after the American professor of Greek and Oriental literature Clement Clark MUR in
In 1822, for the holiday, he wrote a poem for his children about St. Nicholas, who appears
on the eve of Christmas, when even the mice fall asleep, and goes down the chimney with a sack,
full of gifts to leave for the children. In a fur coat, with a white beard and a red nose, he rides on
team of eight deer, and its approach can be recognized by the creak of runners and melodic
ringing bells tied to deer necks.
The poem quickly sold out and became popular, which somewhat offended the professor,
because he was very serious and did not approve of the fun into which the celebration of Christmas turned into.
And forty years later, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew Santa Claus, and the image acquired
completeness: a red fur coat and headdress, a wide leather belt and sparkling black boots.
Russian Santa Claus looks a little different, and his story goes back to Morozko from Slavic folklore.
If Santa Claus looks more like a gnome, then Santa Claus is a giant, a hero, bypassing the watch
his possessions, icing up rivers and lakes, and at the same time giving gifts to children. Its disadvantage is often
asks you to do something for yourself. Not because of greed - just the soul asks. But for the voiceless
legless, suffering from sclerosis, everything pays off with the fact that our Grandfather has a Snow Maiden - she will not only give gifts, but she can also kiss.
The Americanized image of Santa Claus was designed in detail by illustrator Thomas
Nast in "Harper's" magazine in 1860-1880. Nast added attributes such as northern
pole and a list of good and bad kids.
Deprived of a halo, a Christian saint was dressed in all kinds of multi-colored sheepskin coats,
until, in 1931, the famous Coca Cola company began its new advertising campaign, mainly
whose character was Santa Claus. Artist Haddon Sundblom painted a good-natured
white-bearded old man dressed in red and white clothes with a bottle of carbonated drink
in hand. And so the familiar modern image of Santa Claus was born to all of us.
In 1939, Rudolph appeared - the ninth deer with a large shiny red nose.
Thus, Santa Claus - a fat, cheerful old man who delivers gifts, has become an integral
part of Christmas celebrations around the world. He must have a white beard, a red jacket,
pants and hat with white fur trim. He rides on reindeer-drawn
sleigh filled to the brim with gifts. He enters houses through the chimney and leaves gifts under the tree.
or in a special sock, but only for obedient children.
Nowadays, many Americans believe that the modern image of Santa Claus was
dressed in a red and white suit, namely these colors are the corporate colors of the Coca-Cola company, and
"Santa Claus also drinks Coca-Cola" only in 1931. Nothing new besides a bottle of Coca-Cola
The image of Santa Claus was not included by Coca-Cola. She only popularized it with her
from date history
In 1822, another New Yorker, Clement Clarke Moore, wrote a series
fairy tales, where he described that Santa Claus arrives on eight reindeer. Clement Clark Moore
also came up with a way to get Santa Claus into the house - through the chimney.
In 1841, in Philadelphia, a certain businessman Parkinson to attract to the store
clients hired a man and dressed him up as Santa Claus. The first living Santa Claus sat
on the roof of the house where the store was located, next to the chimney.
In 1863, cartoonist Thomas Nast depicted Santa Claus with huge sideburns and
dressed in fur from head to toe.
In 1869, poems by Georges Webster were published, where the North Pole was indicated as the tenant of Santa Claus.
Publisher Louis Prang spread the English tradition in America to send to friends and relatives
for Christmas greeting cards. In 1885, he issued a greeting card, which
Santa Claus was drawn in a red suit. Since then, Santa Claus has been increasingly drawn in
red robes, and not furs or robes of any other color.
This is how the New York Times describes Santa Claus, dated 1927
year: "Santa Claus appeared before the young residents of New York: of enormous growth,
in a red robe, cap and white sideburns, a sack full of gifts,
Almost every country has its own, "local" Morozko. Still, because it is very difficult for one person to congratulate all the children in the world, and helpers are needed here.
We also told you about. But the question remains where the rest live, such as his most famous colleague, Santa.
So where does Santa Claus live? Let's solve this mystery.
Many from childhood to the question "Where does Santa Claus live?" answered "In Lapland". In principle, everything is correct. But what kind of country is this, Lapland? It turns out that this is not exactly a country, it is a geographical-ethnic region that lies near the Arctic Circle and is located on the territory of several countries: Russia, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
Lapland is an amazing country. Everything is a little different here (of course, Santa Claus would not have lived in another place), here even the seasons are not four, but five! In addition to spring, summer, autumn and winter, there is also a time of midnight winter twilight - the sun is barely visible from behind the horizon line. It is said to be a magical time of peace and serenity.
So, on the territory of the Finnish part of Lapland there is Mount Korvatunturi, and it is on it that Santa Claus lives. It is curious that Mount Korvatunturi is shaped like hare ears, and in Finnish its name sounds like “mountain-ear”. Naturally, Santa does not live alone, his wife and many of his assistants (gnomes and elves) live with him.
But that's not all, it's not a complete answer to the question "Where does Santa Claus live?".
There is also the town of Rovaniemi - the capital of Finnish Lapland, where Santa's office is open. True, since 1950, on the site of the future office, there was just a hut, and Santa opened a full-fledged office only in 1985.
It is in the city of Rovaniemi that the office receives letters from all the kids in the world who write to Santa with orders for the New Year and Christmas. Here, in addition to the office and post office, there are numerous workshops. puppet theatres. Souvenir shops and much more. Life here is in full swing all year round, and work does not stop for a second. Numerous gnomes and elves entertain tourists and guests.
In the depths of the Syväsenvaara cave there is also a large amusement park - Santa Park. It was founded in 1997. A sea of attractions, entertainment complexes and the constantly reigning atmosphere of the New Year and Christmas.
It seems that the good old Santa Claus, who gives gifts to good children and grants their wishes, has existed since ancient times.
In fact, this is not entirely true - the progenitor of this fairy-tale character really really existed in antiquity, but Santa Claus, known to us in his current form, was “born” by the standards of historical science recently - no more than 200 years ago.
The kind grandfather swam across the ocean twice before becoming famous all over the world. The real prototype of Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, a real character who lived in Asia Minor during the time of Rome and later became the archbishop of the city of Mir Lycian in the Roman province of Lycia.
Coming from a family of wealthy Christians, Nicholas devoted himself entirely to the service of God and gave his inheritance to the church. In the Orthodox tradition, he is considered Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of travelers and seafarers, a benefactor who gives gifts to children.
He is well known to us on the feast of St. Nicholas of the Winter on December 19, when obedient children find gifts from St. Nicholas under their pillows.
In Catholicism, there is a legend about three dowry sisters who could not get married because of poverty and the only way for them to go to a brothel was to sell themselves for money. Saint Nicholas found out about this situation and secretly threw a bag of gold coins to two older sisters.
Their father found out about this and decided to track down the donor. The saint found out about the insidious plan and threw a bag of money into the chimney. The bundle landed safely in the youngest daughter's stocking, which was drying by the fire. It was this episode that formed the basis of the traditional idea of Santa Claus bringing gifts through the chimney on Christmas Eve and hiding from people.
This legend was very popular in the Netherlands and, together with the Dutch settlers, crossed the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Founded by emigrants from Holland, New Amsterdam became New York after a while, and the kind grandfather from the tales of the Old World took root in a different society and was overgrown with fresh legends and myths.
This is especially interesting because Puritan New England did not celebrate Christmas at all. Legends about Santa Claus existed in the form of oral tradition and were passed on as the population mixed from the descendants of the Dutch to new immigrants.
Only at the beginning of the 10th century, in 1809, did a written mention of this character appear.
American writer Washington Irving ("The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", "Rip Van Winkle"), now considered the father of American literature, wrote "History of New York", where he spoke about the veneration of Santa Claus during the existence of New Amsterdam. With this, he laid the foundation for the popularity of this character.
The baton was picked up by Clement Moore, who wrote a poem about Santa Claus, and then the artist Thomas Nast for the first time portrayed him the way we are used to seeing him today. It is believed that Nast portrayed himself in the guise of Santa - a cheerful, full, elderly man with a full beard and lush mustache.
Santa Claus got his final look in 1931 under the brush of Haddon Sundblom - it was a red suit and cap with white fur trim. It was in this guise that the good miracle worker crossed the Atlantic for the second time and returned to Europe in order to finally take possession of the entire planet.
The popularity of this hero among the general population began to actively exploit various commercial enterprises in their advertising campaigns.
On Coca-Cola ads on Christmas holidays, Santa still delivers drinks and gifts around the world, now not on reindeer, but on a large truck. Deer, elves and other supporting characters are always present in the stories about Santa, helping him in all good deeds.
It is very difficult to answer the question "Who is Santa Claus" unequivocally, because many peoples have their own analogue of a kind grandfather who brings gifts to obedient and well-mannered children in winter and lives somewhere far away at the North Pole.
For the French, this is Pere Noel, for the Russians, Santa Claus, and for the Finns, Joulupukki. All these characters are united by common features - they appear in winter, live somewhere far away at the end of the world, are middle-aged, plump and very kind.
It doesn't matter what his name is - Santa or Ded Moroz, what is more important is that with him joy, fun and hope for a happy future come to the house.
Neither in Christmas, nor in New Year's calendar, there is such a name - Santa Claus. Where did this character come from? December 19 (according to the new style) for Christians is the day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, a bishop from the city of Lycian Myra in Asia Minor. This saint, one of the most revered in the Christian world (in Germany, special veneration of St. Nikolaus began in the 6th, in Rome - in the 8th century), and became the prototype of the Western European and North American New Year and Christmas character Santa Claus.
Actually, there is nothing fabulous in the life of St. Nicholas. There is wonderful. More than others, several episodes are known: how he saved the city of Mira from starvation, how he pacified the storm with prayer and did not let the ship sailing to Palestine perish, how he saved three governors who were slandered by attackers from the inevitable execution, and finally, how St. . Nicholas, while still a priest in the city of Patara, helped one impoverished man to marry his three daughters. Let's take a closer look at the last one. Unable to give a dowry for his daughters, the desperate father was going to send them to a brothel (which was unheard of at that time) or even make his own dwelling such. The poor girls began to pray fervently, and so the Lord sent priest Nicholas to help them. Three times the Miracle Worker passed by this man's house and left a bag of gold at the threshold. And the father was able to marry off all his daughters one by one. This episode formed the basis of the Western tradition of leaving gifts at the door at Christmas, in specially hung stockings (In some places it is customary to leave stockings and boots by the fireplace, through the chimney Santa Claus or his assistant droops into the house).
Grateful memory of how St. Nicholas helped people in their troubles
and sorrows, stood up for the offended, shared everything that he had, crossed the borders
Byzantium, has become one of the important themes of European Christmas
The custom of giving gifts to children has been known in Germany since the 10th century. Then in the monastic schools on the day of St. Nicholas, episcopal games were held: one of the students dressed up as a bishop and distributed gifts to schoolmates. In the 16th-17th centuries, this custom was finally fixed in Germany. Now St. Nicholas does not just go from house to house with a bag of goodies: he checks the children's knowledge of the catechism and the most important prayers, and only after that he gives gifts. Another custom is known: on the eve of St. Nicholas Day, children pray fervently, and a special notebook is kept to record prayers (originally it was a decorated board on which notches were made). And in the evening, children put their shoes out the door, in which they find gifts in the morning. Gradually in the West, especially in Protestant regions, the religious meaning of the image of St. Nicholas faded into the background, reduced to a simple magician (Sinter-Klaas, Santa Claus, etc.). However, far from everywhere this image is identified with the New Year's character Santa Claus, Papa Noel or Weinakhtsmann.
Image of St. Nicholas on an old Catholic miniature
Images of St. Nicholas on an Orthodox icon
Since the 1930s, Santa Claus has been entrenched in the public mind as a brand of the Coca-Cola Company. Since then, in a number of countries, he finally merged with the Christmas grandfather. The uniform of Santa was also unified: a red caftan, trousers and a cap with a white trim. Previously, the "Christmas grandfather" could wear a wide-brimmed deep hat, knee-length pants and smoke a pipe, or be a fat-cheeked old kobold, as in the poems of Clement Moore's "Christmas Grandfather's Visit".
Unfortunately or fortunately, in the minds of most modern children, the current Santa Claus is in no way connected with the image of St. Nicholas. Much sadder is that with the “cocacolization” of the symbolism of Christmas, the holiday itself in most European countries has lost its Christian meaning for many and turned into one big shopping campaign.
Hello, friends! What if the newfangled routes for celebrating the New Year under palm trees on the sea-ocean no longer appeal. And I want a real Russian winter with all the winter entertainments: real frosts, fluffy snow, skating, sledding and skiing, building snow fortresses and towns and merry celebration of the New Year under a real Christmas tree in a real forest.
But there is a way out: you need to go not just anywhere, but to Lapland - the kingdom of the Snow Queen and the habitats of Santa Claus. In one of the articles, I already talked about traveling with children and that, having visited this country, it is impossible not to visit where Santa Claus lives. This amazing place is located far in the very north beyond the Arctic Circle, 9 kilometers from the capital of Lapland - Rovaniemi in the village of Joulupukki (Joulupukin Pajakyla).
Mysterious and unique Lapland
Lapland is an inexplicable and fabulous province located on the territory of Finland, with fantastic nature and unique culture – of course, in many ways we are close. We are also accustomed to severe frosts, like the Finns, and we love winter fun since childhood.
But what can be seen in Lapland will undoubtedly evoke many unexpected emotions. Crowds of tourists come to these places with primeval nature with forests and mountains, many rivers and lakes, the purest air, every polar night on New Year's Eve, dreaming not only to enjoy the local beauties, but also to return once again to a distant fairy tale from childhood.
And for children, this is an opportunity to see live those places about which so much is already known from the books of Hans Christian Andersen and the Swedish writer Selma Lagerlöf. The adventures of Kai and Gerda, a reindeer from Lapland, in the land of the Snow Queen, and the characters from the book Nils' Wonderful Journey with the Wild Geese in Lapland is the first acquaintance with this northern country, which, no doubt, needs to be continued.
And we will begin our journey with Rovaniemi
The history of this northern city, the largest in area in Europe, begins in the 15th century. It is located 8 kilometers from the Arctic Circle, 800 kilometers from Helsinki and 1025 kilometers from St. Petersburg. It is this northern city that becomes the most favorite resort of Lapland in winter for children and adults.
And it's easy to explain. These are just the places where he spends most of his time in worries and preparations for the Christmas holidays, the beloved by many New Year's character - Santa Claus (in Finnish - Joulupukki). After all, it is here, just a few kilometers from the city, that the famous village of Santa Claus is located.
It is clear that Santa Claus is almost the same as ours, but in a European manner. But its history is somewhat different. It is assumed that St. Nicholas became his prototype: Santa - “saint”, Klaus - “Nicholas. This common Christian saint secretly helped poor people and children during his lifetime. And the tradition of giving gifts on St. Nicholas' day later transformed into the tradition of giving gifts to children at Christmas. And this is what modern Santa Claus does with great pleasure.
According to legend, Santa's permanent home and secret workshop, where Christmas gifts for children are prepared, are located on Mount Korvatunturi. But, since rumors began to spread among people about the secret place of his dwelling, Santa Claus, in order not to be completely declassified, decided to show up to people and chose a place for this on the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi.
Here, in Lapland, in a small village, Santa settled his working residence, which is now known to the whole world. He comes here every day, receives visitors from all over the world, reads letters from all over the world (which can be sent to: Santa Klaus, 96930 Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi, Finland), and from them he learns what children dream about and what gifts they waiting for Christmas.
But in fact, the village of Santa Claus appeared in 1950. And it was connected with the visit to these places of the wife of the American President Eleanor Roosevelt. For her arrival, a small wooden house was built as a temporary home for Santa. It has survived to this day and is located near the office of Santa Claus.
So somewhere far beyond the Arctic Circle, among the forests and snow sparkling in the sun, Santa's village appeared many years ago. I am glad that such a wonderful place exists and you must visit it at least once in your life.
Santa Claus Village Sites:
Where Santa Claus lives, childhood lives
This is the kingdom of Santa Claus, where reality and a fairy tale are so closely intertwined, and on its territory inhabited by fairy-tale characters, such amazing events take place that make you believe in the reality of what is happening and in the possibility of miracles and happiness not only for small children, but also for adults aunt and uncle.
Santa Claus Village is the office and post office of Santa Claus, Santa Park, cottages for tourists, many shops and restaurants, a small deer farm. In winter, numerous slides are built on the square, from which you can ride for free. Near the village there is another amusement park - "Arctic Winter World".
According to one of the hypotheses (I don’t know, scientific or also fabulous), the place for this magical village was not chosen at all by chance: since it is in this place that the earth’s crust is very thin, Santa Claus learned to control time with the help of special mechanisms. in particular to slow down the speed of the earth's rotation. And this little trick helps Santa to visit everyone in the world on the eve of Christmas in one night and give gifts to everyone.
The village is small, but not small either. In the center of the Village stands a large Christmas tree decorated with small flags from around the world. Around everything sparkles in a festive attire, which immediately improves mood.
Entrance to the village is free, but for various services, of course, you have to pay.
Santa's office is the main attraction of the village
You can get to Santa in his office in the office through a long fairy-tale corridor. The famous wizard himself and his constant assistants - the gnomes joyfully greet the guests, and in the minutes allotted for the visit, you need to try to tell Santa Claus about what is most important for you in this life, make a wish and sit next to him.
This is not difficult to do, since Santa has a good knowledge of many foreign languages, including Russian. Santa gives gifts to good and obedient children.
Entrance to Santa's house is free. But if you want to capture yourself in a photo next to Santa Claus, then you will have to pay for this to his assistants - gnome photographers.
Playful and restless gnomes and elves help Santa to entertain guests.
In addition, they work in Santa's workshop, where they make amazing gifts for children.
Santa is a tireless worker himself. It receives guests every day without days off and holidays. The office hours depend on the time of the year and on holidays (in December the opening hours increase and there may be queues).
Santa's office official website: santaclauslive.com
Santa Claus Post
This is a must-visit place after Santa's office. Almost half a million tourists come here every year.
Here you can order a letter from Santa Claus to any part of the world. Such a letter in the desired language (options in 11 languages are offered) will be helped by cheerful elves to compose and send. Letters from children with their requests and wishes come here from different parts of the planet, which the elves sort out and then pass on to Santa. An interesting statistic: Santa has received over 16 million letters since 1980.
From the Santa Claus mail you can send a Christmas card with good wishes to family and friends. All letters and postcards are stamped with Santa's special seal, and they are immediately sent to their destination. Here you can buy various souvenirs and postcards.
The Santa Claus Post Office, like the office, is open all days of the year.
The Village has another attraction that is associated with an interesting ritual that everyone who visits this place loves to perform: crossing the geographical and, to some extent, fabulous border of the Arctic Circle, depicted as a white line with the inscription "Arctic Circle".
The most "brave" (that is, those who cross the Arctic Circle) will receive a solemn presentation of commemorative certificates in memory of this event.
There is another remarkable geographical landmark in the village: a large pillar with direction indicators for the largest cities in the world.
Santa Post Sites:
- santagreeting.net
Santa Park - magical elf cave
Near the Village there is an underground (at a depth of several tens of meters) Santa Claus Park, inhabited by cheerful elves. This structure is in the form of a series of tunnels that are laid right inside the rock. Before you are met by elves and fairy-tale characters, you have a long descent.
Adventure Cave Santa Park has a wide variety of fun activities for everyone. Especially fun here for children. At the school of elves, you can master all sorts of elven wisdom, learn how to sign Christmas cards in calligraphic handwriting.
And especially distinguished ones will even be given a diploma on the successful completion of the young elf course.
In the pastry shop and in the kitchen of Mrs. Claus, you can not only taste delicious gingerbread cookies, but also learn how to cook them yourself. In addition, this kind woman has so many sweets in store.
It will not be superfluous to visit Santa Claus in his office, once again visit the elven post office (suddenly not all friends have been sent postcards yet).
And the kingdom of the Ice Princess (not at all scary, rather, on the contrary) will simply surprise you with sculptures of northern animals and fairy-tale characters in the Ice Gallery.
And you can also go on a fun journey with the elves on the magic train "Four Seasons", play in a huge ball filled with snowflakes, or on the Angry Birds playground.
The annual colorful costume show will add to the long list of amazing adventures.
All the hungry are waiting for delicious food in the underground cafe, and those who did not have time to buy gifts for their relatives can do it in the local shops and souvenir shops.
Santa Park opening hours:
Santa Park is not open daily, but only during certain periods.
From 9 to 30 November 2019 - daily from 10:00 to 17:00. From December 1, 2019 to January 5, 2020 - daily from 10:00 to 18:00 (December 24 - from 10:00 to 16:00). From January 6 to January 11, 2020 - daily from 10:00 to 17:00 (January 11 - from 10:00 to 15:00).
Santa Park website: santapark.com
Ticket prices to Santa Park for 2019-2020:
Unlike the free entrance to the Village, the entrance here is paid.
- From 9/11/2019 to 30/11/2019: adults €34, children (3–12) €28
- From 12/1/2019 to 12/21/2019: adults €35, children (3-12) €29
- From 12/22/2019 - 01/11/2020: adults - 36€, children (3-12) years old - 30€.
Children under the age of 3 can visit Santa Park for free. The price of the ticket, which is valid for two days in a row, includes all the entertainment of Santa Park, and you can buy tickets at the box office from the elf.
Another great place for kids and their parents is very close to the village of Santa Claus. But this amusement park is open only in winter - from the beginning of December to the end of March.
And every year this complex, which consists of a unique igloo hotel, slides for children and adults in fantastic lighting, a cafe and a bar, beautiful sculptures, is rebuilt from snow and ice.
From the ice slides on sleds and cheesecakes, everyone rides with pleasure: from young to old.
You can conquer more and more slides all day long for a single entrance fee to the amusement park.
And having rolled, you can take a break. In the Ice Cafe or Bar you will be offered delicious drinks made from berries - for children, and for adults - something stronger. And all this in ice glasses.
For a more complete Ice World experience, daredevils can spend the night in a sleeping bag in one of the snowy rooms decorated with ice objects at the Arctice Igloo Hotel.
There are no other zoos in the world located this far north.
It is located approximately 80 kilometers (or an hour drive) from Rovaniemi. More than 200 different animals and about 30 species of birds live here, including polar and brown bears, wolves and, of course, reindeer.
Excellent conditions have been created for animals: spacious enclosures, good feeding and care. The zoo stretched out in a long strip, about 2.5 km, in the forest. Therefore, for children at the entrance to the zoo, you can take a stroller or sled for free. Children usually enthusiastically prefer sleds.
In addition to the zoo, you can also visit the children's fairy-tale park. – castle "Moor-mur" (or the castle of the elves), in which the dwarves and elves make Christmas gifts for children, where you can feast on delicious sweets from the local Fazer confectionery factory or the northern rare berry - cloudberry.
The zoo is open daily. Opening hours and ticket prices depend on the season. From Rovaniemi to Ranua can be reached by car or by bus.
Ranua Zoo official website: ranuazoo.com
Ranua Zoo opening hours:
- From September 1 to May 31 - from 10:00 to 16:00
- From June 1 to August 31 - from 9:00 to 19:00
Cost of visiting the zoo:
From 01.10 – 09.12 and from 11.01 – 31.03:
- For adults – 15€
- For children 4-14 years old – 13.50€
- For pensioners – 14€
- Family ticket – 51€
- For students – 13.50€
From 10.12 - 10.01:
- For adults – 18.50€
- For children 4-14 years old – 16€
- For pensioners – 17€
- For students – 16€
- Family ticket – 59€
From 1.04 - 30.09:
- For adults – 17€
- For children 4-14 years old – 14€
- For pensioners – 14.50€
- For students – 14€
- Family ticket – 51€
For children under 4 years old, visiting the zoo is free.
What else can you do in Lapland?
It is impossible to leave these places without riding in reindeer and dog sleds or on powerful snowmobiles.
More information about this can be found on the websites:
- wildlifesafaris.fi
- gulo.fi
There is a deer farm next to Santa's office in winter.
It is small, but sufficient for organizing wonderful walks in a sleigh pulled by reindeer.
And, of course, you will be very lucky if you manage to admire, according to eyewitnesses, the extraordinary beauty of the Northern Lights.
The time of occurrence of this inexplicable natural phenomenon is difficult to predict. But still, suddenly you find yourself at the right time in the right place.
Where to live and how to get there?
There are no problems with accommodation and transport in these places. Despite the severity of these places, the conditions for tourists here are excellent. You can settle down on vacation in a hotel or in a separate comfortable and cozy cottage.
The city has a railway station, and only 10 kilometers from the city and 2 kilometers from the village of Santa Claus is Rovaniemi International Airport.
Cheap flights to Rovaniemi
| Where | departure date | Return date | Find a ticket |
Helsinki | |||
London | |||
Tallinn | |||
Joensuu 18.02.202001.02.2020 29.02.2020 |
|||
Zurich |
From the center of Rovaniemi to Santa Claus Village there is a regular bus service "Santa's Express" (route number 8), which takes about 20-30 minutes. The cost of a one-way ticket per person is 3.80€. A taxi from the center to the village will cost several times more - about 25 €.
And for a complete immersion in the local atmosphere, you can get from the city to Santa Claus Village by reindeer or dog sled.
And if there is a desire to celebrate the New Year in a family way, in a cozy house by the fireplace in a fabulous atmosphere, there is no better place than fabulous Lapland.
A trip to Finland is also good because we have a common border with this country. Therefore, the opportunity to travel to Finland from the northwestern part of our country is greatly simplified. For example, from St. Petersburg you can go there by different modes of transport.
The easiest way is to get to Helsinki by high-speed Allegro train or by car, bus, plane or even ferry. Also from Russia can be reached by bus from Murmansk and Kandalaksha. Those who live in the Central part of Russia can use the services of the branded train Moscow-Helsinki "Leo Tolstoy".
The second advantage of this tourist destination is the relative ease of obtaining a visa. Finns willingly give Russian tourists visas.
Don't forget to bring warm clothes and ! Merry holidays to you!
