The Arctic Circle runs through Santa Claus Village at 66°33′45.9″ N. What the line means, where it is marked and where to get the crossing certificate.
A marked line across the square. Step over it and you are in the Arctic.
There is a line marked across the village square. Step over it and you are in the Arctic.
The Arctic Circle is a circle of latitude that runs 66°33′45.9″ north of the Equator. It is the southernmost line where the sun can stay above or below the horizon for a full 24 hours. That is the midnight sun in summer and the polar night, kaamos, in winter.
In Rovaniemi that line runs straight through Santa Claus Village, and it is marked clearly across the central square. You can step over it, hop over it, jump it or turn a cartwheel over it. Crossing costs nothing.
The line is not a border or a fence. It is arithmetic: the point where the tilt of the Earth starts to do something you can actually see in the sky.
The village grew up around it. Roosevelt Cottage, the first building at the Arctic Circle, went up in the summer of 1950 to honour Eleanor Roosevelt's visit to Rovaniemi. Everything else came afterwards.
Cartwheels are allowed. Officially. The village says so, and I have checked twice.
Crossing the line is free. The certificate is not: buy it at the Arctic Circle Tourist Information or in the Christmas House shop.
The village is 8 km north of the centre of Rovaniemi. Local bus number 8 runs there all year round.
Rovaniemi Airport is about 4 km away, which is also why you may not fly a drone here without permission from the aviation authorities.
The same line is the reason for both the midnight sun and the polar night, so what it does to the sky depends entirely on when you visit.