While many people understand Rovaniemi to be the hometown of Santa, its actually only the 'official' home for tourism purposes, as well as the host to Santa's village, office, & post office. One reason Santa has an office in Rovaniemi is that his actual home, according to Finnish folklore, is more remote and isolated further north in Lapland...

The real home of Santa Claus (Joulupukki in Finnish) is Korvatunturi fell, which is located in Savukoski and inside Urho Kekkonen National Park in eastern Lapland. The name "Korvatunturi" translated to English means "Ear Fell", referencing the ear-like shape of the fell which you can see in the image above. The fell is the folklore home of Santa and his secret workshop where his elves (or gnomes) build & wrap toys to be delivered as Christmas presents. The folklore story of Santa's home actually isn't that old; the secret workshop in Korvatunturi in Lapland was 'revealed' to the public by Finnish radio host Markus Rautio in 1927. Rautio was the host of a popular Finnish Broadcasting Company children's radio show called Markus-sedän lastentunti (Children's hour with Uncle Markus).

The fell has 3 peaks and rises 486 meters above sea-level. Although the fell can be reached by marked hiking trails, the fell lies in the border region between Russia and Finland and it is wise to contact the Finnish Border Guard before making plans to hike in the area. If you plan to hike in the summer, be sure to prepare for mosquitoes.

The 2010 Finnish film Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale took place in and around Korvatunturi and offered a humourous sci-fi horror twist to Santa's folklore origins. If curious, you can see a trailer below for the film.

Unfortunately, Korvatunturi isn't so easily accessible to the general public, so if you're keen to visit Santa when coming to Lapland, its still best to see him at his office at Santa's Village on the Arctic Circle.

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