Santa Claus Village - Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland

Snow-covered roofs, Christmas lights and crowds of visitors fill Santa Claus Village (Joulupukin Pajakylä) on the Arctic Circle near Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, and this camera watches the village in its deep winter snow.

The village opened in 1985, about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of the town of Rovaniemi. A white line painted across the ground marks the Arctic Circle, and Santa's own post office here is an official Finnish post office.

Finns call Rovaniemi the official hometown of Santa Claus. The town was almost completely burned in 1944, and architect Alvar Aalto helped plan the new town in the shape of a reindeer's head.

Did You Know? The first building on the Arctic Circle at Rovaniemi was a lodge built for a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt in 1950.

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