Black sauna MOOSKA

The Võromaa smoke sauna tradition, practiced in southern Estonia, is on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. At Mooska Farm, guests can experience this Estonian heritage. 

Mooska farm is a typical lifestyle farm in Southern Estonia. The powerful location at the foot of Vällamäe is amidst the beautiful nature and harmonically connects the farm life with nature and the heritage of ancestors.

The Veeroja family share their lifestyle values and introduce the local heritage to their guests, the pride of which is their local food and the traditional smoke sauna. The workshop has an EHE (Genuine and Interesting Estonia) ecotourism quality label for maintaining authentic traditions, skills and atmosphere.

Smoke sauna is a building or room heated by a stove covered with stones and with an elevated platform for sitting or lying. It has no chimney, and the smoke from the burning wood circulates in the room. People usually go into the sauna together and remain until they are sweating. Water is thrown on the heated stones to produce hot steam laden air and bathers beat their bodies with whisks to remove dead skin and stimulate blood circulation. After sweating, whisking, relaxing and possible healing procedures, people cool themselves outside and rinse their bodies with water. The procedure is then repeated. 

PROGRAMME:

• Arrival, meeting the hosts.
• Excursion.  The excursion will introduce the heritage of the smoke sauna of Vana-Võromaa region. The hosts show the three smoke saunas of Mooska farm. Two of them are for bathing, while the third one is for smoking meat. Visitors get an overview of the construction, heating, sauna rituals and family traditions of the smoke sauna. The excursion ends with a tasting of smoked pork. 
• Sauna session with the host family. The hosts lead the visitors through the sauna process. The rich aroma of burning wood is complemented by a whispered note of the meat smoked in the sauna, birch boughs, and sauna honey. The sauna is located near a pond for a cooling swim when the water is ice free or for an invigorating dip in winter. During the sauna experience the hosts tell their guests about Estonian smoke sauna traditions and beliefs and explain the process.