SkyWheel Helsinki is a 40-meter (131 feet) tall

Ferris wheel A Ferris wheel (also called a big wheel, giant wheel or an observation wheel) is an amusement ride consisting of a rotating upright wheel with multiple passenger-carrying components (commonly referred to as passenger cars, cabins, tubs, gondola ...

in central

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. One of its gondola cabins, the SkySauna, is the world's first

sauna A sauna (, ) is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is used to meas ...

on a Ferris wheel. It opened to the public on June 3, 2014. It was originally named the Finnair SkyWheel and its placement on

Katajanokka Katajanokka (; ) is a neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, with around 4000 inhabitants in 2005. The district is located adjacent to the immediate downtown area, though in the first major town plan for Helsinki from the mid-18th century, the area ...

harbor is where the airline

Finnair Finnair Plc (, ) is the flag carrier and largest full-service legacy airline of Finland, with headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its airline hub, hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and international ...

first located its flight operations in the 1920s.

Design

The

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

-based Dutch Wheels designed and constructed the wheel. It is a model R40. It has 30 climate controlled gondolas, allowing the wheel to operate year-round. Of these, 29 blue-and-white gondolas can accommodate six people, except for the VIP gondola which can accommodate four. The wood paneled SkySauna gondola can hold up to five people. The VIP gondola features a glass floor and leather chairs.

References

External links

* {{Helsinki Cityscape 2014 establishments in Finland Buildings and structures completed in 2014 Ferris wheels Tourist attractions in Helsinki Buildings and structures in Helsinki Saunas Landmarks in Finland Finnair