Did you know Rovaniemi Airport’s terminal ceiling marks the Arctic Circle with a 40-metre skylight?

At Rovaniemi Airport in Finnish Lapland, the Arctic Circle is built into the terminal. According to Finavia, which operates the airport, the terminal ceiling features a 40-metre-long sliver of skylight aligned with the actual Arctic Circle. Light passing through it illuminates a line on the floor marking where the circle lay in 9648 BC, 1958, 1962, 1974, 1984 and 1990.

The reason for so many dates is that the line is not fixed. Finavia explains that the Arctic Circle moves back and forth between Ivalo, at 67.9 degrees, and Kemi, at 65.5 degrees, a span of nearly 300 kilometres, because of the fluctuation in the Earth’s axial tilt. The circle currently lies slightly above Rovaniemi and is moving north; the journey from Kemi to Ivalo takes it roughly 25,000 years.

The Arctic Circle marks the southern limit of the midnight sun in summer and of polar twilight in winter. Finavia presents Rovaniemi as Santa’s home airport, located right next to Santa Claus Village, and says passengers can book snowmobile, reindeer or husky safaris at the airport.

For winter visitors to Lapland, the skylight is a detail worth looking out for inside the terminal. Flight times, transfers and activity bookings should be checked with the airline, the airport and the operator concerned before travelling.