Saving the ”newer” sauna of Klooti. For finns the sauna is a holy place. In the croft of Klooti there are two saunas. 

Klooti is like Doghill Farm

In Doghill Farm, the people live exactly as they have lived in the countryside before. Except that the residents of Doghill are dogs. In Finland children and the older too like the books of Mauri Kunnas. Special popular are the books of Doghill. Some Doghill books are translated into English. The Book of Finnish Elves 1999. The Seven Dog Brothers 2002.

Kunnas is most famous for his numerous children's books, illustrated by himself and featuring anthropomorphic animals. His most famous children's book series is called Koiramäki (Dog Hill), set in historical Finland, featuring anthropomorphic dog.

In Finland the building is more than a building. ”Each type of building had its own sort of elf. There were household elves, sauna elves, stable elves, storehouses elves, varn elves and mill elves.” When treated with respect, they bought good fortune to home and hearth.” As before in the old Paattinen.

Mauri Kunnas and his The Seven Dog Brothers.  A canine interpretation of Aleksis Kivi’s novel “Seven Brothers”, one of the cornerstones of Finnish literature. The memorable characters and rugged landscapes of the original are all present in Kunnas’s book, which follows the path of the seven pup brothers into adulthood.

The book contains several sauna stories. ”Indeed we do (a new sauna), declared Juhani. For a house without a sauna won´t do at all. A good farm has a proper roaring sauna, a hound that barks at strangers, a cock that crows, and a cat that mews by the heart. That must be our first job at Jukola – to build ourselves a new sauna, he said.

The croft of Klooti with buildrings is a treasure for local people and for all Turku inhabitants. It is from centre 30 kilometers and Kurjenrahka national park is also near.

Klooti is like Impivaara in The Seven Brothers.  “I’ve always felt that The Seven Brothers is the finest book in the Finnish language. I wanted to make a “canine” version of the novel in a way that was faithful to my own style. I tried to preserve in the text the rich and colourful style of the original, though for obvious reasons the story had to be abridged considerably. I hope that my doggerel version will also inspire readers to pick up Kivi’s original masterpiece”. “Life on Doghill Farm is the same as on all other farms in the olden days. Except that all Doghill residents are dogs.“ is written at the Mauri Kunnas website.

The Seven Brothers told important sauna stories. Impivaara in the book  was kind of croft. Eventually they end up moving to distant Impivaara in the middle of relative wilderness, but their first efforts are shoddy—one Christmas Eve they end up burning down their sauna.

The books have big pictures that are full of details and it doesn’t hurt that you learn something about. Why people think history is boring is beyond me, here the book tells about everyday life in the 19th century farm with a funny twist. The Finnish society was built on agriculture and this book illustrates just how much work farming is. Even the children of Doghill participate in the upkeep of a farm and have fun doing it. Family is very important to the Doghill dogs, Grandma and Grandpa are a part of the core family and they all live in the same house.

By the way, actually Klooti is a character test site for dogs in reality. And Klooti is not a boring place.

In Turku there is also  a KYLÄMÄKI VILLAGE, which is made up of four farms with buildings still standing at their original sites. Nowadays, Kurala is a village of living history where visitors can travel back in time to a typical Southwest Finnish farm of the 1950s, complete with authentic scents and rural atmosphere.

Then Cloister Hill (Handicrafrs Museom) is an open-air museum. The museon consists of 18 blocks of original 18th-centyry buildings on their original location.

Mission of Klooti, inpossible or possible?

The newer sauna is built 1951 and there has been electricity. The tire well is near. So if the new sauna repaired, it need no building permit. Interior dimensions are; cold room 120 x 256, chamber 220 x 256 and sauna room 296 x 350 cm. The volume is about 21 cubic meters. The sauna would be for up to six.

In the sauna room there are log work, the bottom log lauers must repair. Then the building must lift from the foundation and place into temporary supports. The logs must replace using old or new logs. Also the sauna stove has to change. It is necessary to repair the chimney.

Hopefully we can bathe in the new newer sauna in 2023. 

Sources:

Oikarinen, Maiju ; Kaituri, Kai. 2011. Klootin torppa: kulttuuriraportti.

Paattisten taloja ja tarinoita : Paattisten kulttuurimaisema ja vanha rakennuskanta. 2010.

Harva, Uno ; 1935. Varsinais-Suomen historia. 3, 1-2, Varsinais-Suomen henkistä kansankulttuuria

Perälä, Väinö. 1959. Paattinen 1359-1959 

Kunnas, Mauri ; Mauri Kunnaksen Koiramäki. 1998. 4. p. It is not translated into English.

Kunnas, Mauri ; Kunnas, Tarja ; Moore, William The seven dog brothers : being a doggerel version of The seven brothers, Aleksis Kivi's classic novel from 1870 Seitsemän veljestä (lastenversio), englanti. The original novel of The Seven Brothers is the masterpiece by Finland's national writer Aleksis Kivi, a work still entirely topical some 130 years after its first appearance. Mauri Kunnas's canine version of this much-loved Finnish classic will delight both children and older readers.

Kunnas, Mauri ; Steffa, Tim. 2003. The book of Finnish elves.

Thanking you. In the wilderness of Paattinen 10.1.2022    Kai Kaituri, Paattinen Local Heritage Assocation

1)                        the bottom log lauers must repair

2)                        the floor should be lowered

3)                        the sauna stove has to change

4)                        the chimney must repair

5)                        the tire well ( 7 m deep, diameter one meter)

6)                        electrical work

Photos Timo Hiironen.  The croft is a real cultural destination and very photographic. The place should also be used. The deep tire well is very close. Newer sauna is up near the pond

Sauna culture is now in the next list. Sauna culture is also important in the european dimension. Finland’s sauna culture has been added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity 17.12.2020. In the croft of Klooti there are two saunas, one is a chimneyless smoke sauna (about 1800) and one is ”newer sauna” (1951).