06/09/2022
Russian banya
The Russian banya has its own rules, traditions, customs and even rituals. The bathhouse is considered a combination of the four elements – fire, water, earth and air, so the bathhouse was considered a sacred place. In the bath you become stronger and healthier. There was even a belief that if the patient did not recover after the bath, then nothing would help him.
They washed in Russia on Saturdays, having completed weekly work, and weekly washing was considered mandatory! But once a week is a minimum, and if possible, it was possible to wash on other days. We went to the bathhouse before holidays, before childbirth, before weddings, after a long journey.
In the old days, women and men in Russia "in commercial baths" washed in the same room, albeit "in different corners". The Orthodox Church struggled not only with this custom, but even with the "maiden bath" (the day before the wedding) and the "marriage bath" (joint bathing of spouses). They were replaced by separate ablution after the so-called "sin of coition". By 1743, the struggle as a whole was over - a senate decree forbade men and women to wash together in the same room. In the village, however, no one cared about this decree...
Bath attributes.
Brooms. The main and most famous tradition of the Russian bath is brooms. There are different types of brooms with their own features of use. Each bath attendant has his own way of making a broom.
Hats. The air temperature in the bath can reach 70-90 degrees Celsius, but a cap made of h**p and flax fibers will maintain a comfortable air temperature around the head.
It keeps the head dry and cool, and also prevents damage to the hair from high temperature.