Banya (sauna)
It is a significant part of Russian culture,[2] and is typically conducted in a small room or building designed for dry or wet heat sessions.
It mixed bathing traditions from Byzantium to the south, the Finns to the north, the Jews who lived among them and Khazar tribes to the east.
[4] A mention of the banya is found in the Radziwiłł Chronicle in the story of Princess Olga's revenge for the murder of her husband, Prince Igor, by the Slavic tribe of Drevlians in 945 AD.
Supposedly the belief was held that Andrew crossed through East Slavic lands from the mouth of the Dnieper River, past the hills on which Kiev would later be founded, and went as far north as the ancient city of Novgorod.
"[6] The original bathhouses[dubious – discuss] were detached, low-lying wooden structures dependent on a fire lit inside to provide heat.
A stove in a corner is made of large round stones that, when heated, are lifted with iron rods and placed in a wooden tub.
[7] The Portuguese António Nunes Ribeiro Sanches, court physician in Russia, acquainted western physicians with the effects of banya through his 1779 De Cura Variolarum Vaporarii Ope apud Russos[8] Since ancient times, the banya has been considered an important bonding place in Russian culture.
[11] Banya buildings can be quite large with a number of different bathing areas[12] or simple wooden cabins like the traditional Finnish cottage saunas.
The entrance room, called a predbannik (предбанник) or pre-bath, has pegs to hang clothing upon and benches to rest on.
Firewood is burned for several hours in this improvised stove until the stones on the surface of the pile become so hot that water poured on them turns into steam.
Around the pile, a space is tarped to form a small tent and the banya is ready when it becomes very hot inside and there is a lot of steam.
Fresh veniks (see "Bathing ritual" below) can be cut from nearby birch or oak trees and bathers can take turns cooling off in the ice-cold mountain water.
It is common to sit on a small mat brought into the banya to protect bare skin from the hot wood and nails of the interior benches, and for hygienic reasons.
Bunches of dried branches and leaves from white birch, oak or eucalyptus (called banny venik, банный веник, "banya besom") are commonly used for massage and to facilitate heat transfer from hot air to body.
In the central European Jewish baths long brushes made of raffia, known as Schmeis, were used in place of birch twigs.
After the first sweat is induced, it is customary to cool off in the breeze outdoors or splash around in cold water in a lake or river.
After each sweat, cooling off is repeated and patrons use the break to drink beer, tea, or other beverages, play games or relax in good company in an antechamber to the steam room.
Both private and public baths were distinguished by exceptional luxury – swimming pools were made of precious marble, silver and gold were used to decorate sinks.
Steam rooms were heated in the same way as Russian banyas and Finnish saunas: the oven was placed in the corner, stones were laid on a bronze frame over red-hot charcoal.
Visitors who enter the bathhouse find themselves in a spacious hall, where they leave their clothes and then proceed down the stairs and through a long narrow corridor to the soap room.
Moreover, the entire bath is heated by hot air, coming through a special pipe located under a marble floor.
[18] In North America, the use of sweat lodges by Native Americans is similar in concept to the smoke saunas of Finland or the black banya and was recorded as early as 1643.
[19] There is evidence of the use of sweat lodges in Mesoamerica before the European arrival, such as the Temazcal which is still used in some regions of Mexico and Central America.
