Finland

Finland sustains the lake-and-forest sauna tradition, an epic oral poetry heritage and the living culture of the Sami in Lapland.

Spirituality & rites Language & oral Music & dance Textile & dress

Knowledge in this place

Sauna culture

Sauna culture

The bathing practice of cleansing body and mind in steam, inscribed by UNESCO as a cornerstone of Finnish life.

Spirituality & rites

Kalevala rune singing

Kalevala rune singing

The archaic sung poetry in Kalevala metre from which Finland's national epic was compiled.

Language & oral

Kantele playing

Kantele playing

Plucking the kantele, the plucked zither at the heart of Finnish folk music and the Kalevala.

Ryijy rug weaving

Ryijy rug weaving

Long-piled hand-knotted wool rugs once used as bed covers and now as wall art.

Textile & dress