Ice hotel in Sweden (Jukkasjarvi)

Can you imagine a hotel that is entirely made of ice? Well, it exists in Sweden, but only in winter. In spring the hotel melts away and disappears into the river.

The Ice hotel is situated on the shores of the Torne River in the old village of Jukkasjarvi, Sweden. Every winter, work starts on building a new Ice Hotel, involving 40,000 tons of ice and snow. 10,000 tons of ice is taken from the Torne River, and 30,000 tons of snow is provided by Mother Nature.

The first Ice Hotel was built in 1990. It started as a single room — now it has 64 rooms, as well as an ice chapel, an art gallery, a cinema, a theatre and Absolut Ice Bar, Last winter, more than 14,000 guests spent the night at the Ice Hotel.

Outside, the temperature is -30°C, but inside the hotel, the temperature is always around -5°C.

All the furniture is made of ice, including the beds, but nobody gets cold. The beds are covered with reindeer skins and guests are given warm clothes and special arctic sleeping bags.

In the Absolut Ice Bar, the drinks are served in glasses made of ice, so there is no need for ice cubes!

Every year the interior of the hotel is designed by different artists from all over the world. It is described by visitors as ‘absolutely stunning’, ‘one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen’ and ‘unique’.

Also there is an ice church near the hotel for the couples, that are getting married.

THE HISTORY OF ICE HOTEL

In 1989, Japanese ice artists visited Jukkasjarvi and created an exhibition of ice art.

In 1990, French artist Jannot Derid has created an exhibition in an igloo (it is an accommodation made with snow and ice).

One night there were no available rooms in the town, so the visitors and tourists asked for permission to spend a night in the igloo.

The interesting idea of opening the first “Ice Hotel” in the world came from that night.

THE CHURCH

Each year the ice church is consecrated at the Christmas Day service. Every winter in the church around 140 couples get married, and around 20 children are baptized. Most of the baptized children live in the parish. The wedding baptism goes on with the same ritual as in the other cities in Sweden. Reverend Jan-Erik Kuoksu from the Jukkasjarvi parish is the only clergyman, who performs the church ordinances.

He is the priest of the ice church for the first 14 years. His wife, Lisbeth is the church usher.

 

Here are some pictures of the “Ice hotel”