Now it is difficult to imagine a person who has never heard about the wonderful invention of mankind - the bathhouse! And many cannot imagine life without visiting this miraculous place at least once a week. But who and when invented the ingenious and still so popular bathhouse? Let's delve a little deeper into history... The roots of the bathhouse go deep into the Stone Ages. The results of archaeological excavations confirm the fact that ancient people successfully used hot water and steam to expel illnesses and to heat their sites. They built some kind of heaters not far from their home, thereby creating something like a steam room. How these skills could have come to our ancestors, we can only guess. The source of heat and steam could be an evaporating hot spring or accidentally spilled water on hot stones in a fire.
The ancient Scythians also had a phenomenon similar to the modern bathhouse. They placed a large vat of water in the middle of their yurts and threw hot stones into it, which heated the water and created steam.
The first baths, as we understand them, began to be built in Ancient Egypt, Rome, Greece and India about six thousand years ago.
Bath in Egyptian culture. Healing procedures
According to excavations, in ancient Egypt, baths were two-story structures. On the first floor there was a steam room, on the second there were stone beds with holes through which steam passed from below. The Egyptians attached great importance to the cleanliness of their bodies, they washed in baths four times a day and used beeswax as soap. Therefore, baths were located everywhere and were accessible to everyone. But it was not only personal hygiene that forced the inhabitants of this ancient country to visit the bathhouse. The Egyptians used this place for many healing procedures: they did inhalations, various massages and even gymnastics. The love of baths, physical exercise, and moderation in food allowed the Egyptians to stay in shape for a long time and not grow old. Egyptian doctors of that period of time were highly valued; they successfully used water and hot steam, otherwise known as baths, in treating their patients.
What was in the imperial baths and what was treated in them?
Elizaveta Petrovna set the standard for the imperial baths: on her orders, the ceiling was painted by Russian painters under the direction of [Italian artist Antonio] Perezinotti. The bathhouse had both copper and wooden bathtubs, bound with iron hoops. Water was released from lead pipes, heated in a tinned boiler in a stove, and poured into copper ladles. The queen also ordered a crystal bath, but it is not known whether this order was fulfilled.
At the same time, the tradition of having our own doctors appeared. Under Elizaveta Petrovna, the doctor Sanchez served, who independently published the work “A Respectful Essay on Russian Baths,” where, comparing Russian baths with Roman and Turkish ones, he gave preference to Russian ones due to the heating of steam using a heater stove. Sanchez wrote: “Being composed of the elemental particles of fire and air and renewed at will, [steam] softens and does not relax. It expands the weapon in the breath, combat other veins, returns and restores these parts to the state in which they were before.”
During the cholera epidemic, Nicholas I specially came to the soap shop after traveling far away. There he washed thoroughly, completely changed his clothes, and only then went to his family. And the empress and wife of Alexander II, Maria Alexandrovna, suffering from consumption, alleviated her suffering there; she believed that she was prolonging her life through contrast baths.
In the 19th century, special baths and wet wraps were prescribed for relatives of emperors: the patient was wrapped in a sheet, covered with a blanket and feather bed, and given cold water to drink. After sweat began to appear, he was put under a cold shower, and then immersed in a bath.
The emperors, like all Russian people, believed in the healing power of baths, but also simply enjoyed going there. The bathhouse has had a dual function since the times of Ancient Rus': on the one hand, a person washes and enjoys the warm air, and on the other, he receives treatment.
Lobby of the Central Baths E.S. Egorova
Baths of the ancient Romans. Architectural delights
In ancient Rome, the bathhouse was simply stunningly popular. The bathhouse entered the life of the Romans long ago and forever! Roman rulers spent enormous amounts of money on the construction of baths. The most expensive building materials for interior decoration were brought from all over the world. Architects spared no effort in creating rich interiors: golden sculptures, hanging gardens, all kinds of waterfalls and fountains decorated the facades of Roman baths. Technically, Roman baths were equipped much more advanced than in other countries of the Ancient World. There were water pipes, drains and even heating. An unimaginable amount of water was spent per day to maintain the bathhouse for those times - about a million liters of water! In the baths, the inhabitants of Rome not only performed ablution rituals, but also gathered in communities based on interests and hobbies: they read poetry, sang songs, had dinner, and painted. The baths also had areas for healing procedures. Wealthier residents of Rome could enjoy visiting the bathhouse several times a day.
Church against debauchery
There were public baths in the cities, and here everything was more complicated. The husbands and their “zhinkas” went to the bathhouse together. And it turned out that many people of different sexes could be together in the large bathhouse. And even children with them. Very similar to a dumping sin. The Church began to be indignant about this already in the 15th century.
Baths in cities were built on the banks of rivers, specifically so that they could jump from the heat into cold water. This strengthened the spirit - that’s what the Russians thought. But when passers-by saw more often than men jumping into the water naked, it greatly embarrassed them. There are even several paintings by Russian artists on the topic of not entirely decent bathing customs.
Ah, hamam...
It's time to plunge into the history of the origin of baths in the East.
The fall of the Roman Empire coincided with the dawn of Islamic culture, which adopted many unique traditions from the Romans. The bathhouse did not stand aside. The Turkish bath (“hamam”) has become for the Eastern world perhaps the most significant and original phenomenon of their culture. It should be noted that even before the advent of the bathhouse, the Arabs washed themselves several times a day. This was necessary given the hot climate of eastern countries. But washing them consisted only of dousing them with cold water. With the advent of the hammam, the Arabs became acquainted with the wonderful properties of hot water and steam, while constantly dousing themselves with cold water. This combination became the difference between the Turkish bath and the rest. According to rumors, the Prophet Muhammad greatly approved and appreciated his people's passion for hammam. Moreover, he noticed that the bath even increases fertility, which is one of the goals of Islam.
In addition, hamams became not only a place for Arabs to bathe, but also acquired enormous cultural significance for them. The construction of a hammam was considered the sacred duty of every Arab. Three days after the opening of the hammam, the owner was obliged to receive guests for free. All visitors were met by the manager of the Turkish bath - Minder. He was obliged to stand with open arms, greet each guest and accompany him everywhere with great respect.
The procedure of a Turkish hammam differs in many ways from a Roman bath. It consists of five stages: first, the body was warmed up with a massage, then it was cleansed using a special mitten, then it was soaped and doused with hot and cold water alternately, and the final stage was a relaxing rest on stone beds.
Original Russian bathhouse as part of the national flavor
The first mention of a bathhouse in Rus' was recorded in the 906 agreement between Constantinople and Prince Oleg on the construction of bathhouses for Russian traders on the lands of captured Byzantium. Also, there are chronicles from other countries describing the Russian bathhouse in the 5th century BC: the historian from Byzantium Procopius of Caesarea wrote that the bathhouse existed among the Slavs from time immemorial - newborns were bathed in it, newlyweds were bathed before the wedding, and the departed were washed.
Initially, in Rus', the bathhouse was a low wooden frame, which could only be entered by bending down. Part of the walls of the bathhouse were buried underground or covered with earth to retain heat as long as possible, especially in winter. The construction of baths was carried out by special carpenters, to whom this art was inherited from their fathers and grandfathers and was kept secret.
Every person in Rus' could build his own bathhouse if a certain amount of land ownership allowed. Basically, bathhouses were built not far from the house, near bodies of water, so that immediately after the steam room they could plunge into cool water.
Later, stone baths began to be built, which immediately began to enjoy incredible popularity. These baths were somewhat similar to the ancient Roman baths. The first such structure was built in 1090 in Pereslavl. In addition, this bathhouse became the first public or “trade” bathhouse. In public baths, at first everyone was allowed to bathe together, as well as in domestic baths - in families. But in 1793, the steam rooms were divided into men's and women's.
Later, during the reign of Peter I, public baths began to be built everywhere, especially in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and were extremely popular among the nobility and merchants. The king even exempted bathhouse owners from taxes. The Sandunovskie baths in Moscow, which are more than 200 years old, have survived to this day!
Initially, baths in Rus' were called “black baths.” They most often had one or two rooms (a dressing room and a steam room) and did not have a chimney. In the corner of the steam room, an open fire was built with brushwood, on which a pile of stones was heated and the smoke simply came out through an open door or window. Later, with the advent of stone and brick buildings, the baths began to be called “white baths” - with a chimney in the roof. But due to the existence at that time of a considerable tax on buildings with a chimney, “black baths” prevailed in Rus' for a very long time.
The Russian bathhouse differed from other countries in its primordial traditions - the use of brooms and various herbs for the steam room became a kind of “calling card”. Strongly heated and steamed brooms (birch, linden) had an amazing deep massage effect. Healing herbs were added to the hot stones and their aroma was inhaled throughout the procedure.
Historical-bath epilogue
“The only place that not a single Muscovite has passed is the BATH.” “Moscow without baths is not Moscow.” V. A. Gilyarovsky.
As we see, the history of the emergence of baths among all nations is different, interesting and unique in its own way. Each country has its own method and methods of using the steam room. Somewhere the traditions of taking a bath are intertwined, somewhere they are strikingly different. But, having existed for many centuries, the bathhouse has not lost its popularity and attractiveness! People continue to enjoy the hot steam with great pleasure, healing their body and soul.
Bath traditions and customs today
The modern Russian bathhouse is significantly different from the bathhouse in ancient Rus'. However, some customs and traditions have survived to this day. Since ancient times, Saturday was considered a bath day. To this day, it is customary to go to the bathhouse on weekends or on holidays (at least once a week) to wash away illness and fatigue, cleanse the body and strengthen the spirit. To this day, it is considered a distinctive sign of hospitality to invite loved ones and relatives and light a bathhouse; or offer a bathhouse to a traveler after a long journey.
Until 1743, the baths were common for men and women and it was possible to visit them together. And this was not considered something shameful, but was in the order of things. Today, it’s also hard to imagine a cheerful group of men going to the bathhouse without lovely ladies. Bath service often works with the provision or inclusion of this service in the price. Any owner understands that this is a good help for a successful business in this area. Families with children and relatives often go to the bathhouse. And a bathhouse at the dacha is a favorite gathering place for noisy, cheerful groups of friends and relatives; and for the owners it is a way to recover and relax after gardening and dacha chores. It was a Russian tradition to visit the bathhouse on the eve of the wedding, as well as after the wedding. Nowadays, this can be rather compared to holding hen and stag parties in a Russian bathhouse on the eve of the wedding. Black bath is another original Russian tradition of visiting a bathhouse, which has its roots far into the past. Here it is worth noting not just an unusual approach to visiting a bathhouse, when cleansing the body is associated with an extremely strange and uncomfortable way to steam and wash in smoke, soot and burning. It’s strange, but our ancestors loved it and honored such a black bath! In the bathhouse in Ancient Rus' there was nothing superfluous and each element of the interior and utensils played its own significant role and contributed to the overall perception and feeling of the bathhouse. It was customary to locate the bathhouse near a pond, so that after hot bathing procedures one could dive into the cool water. In winter, you can also use snowdrifts for this to create a temperature contrast for the body. For the same purpose, if there was no body of water nearby, a vat or barrel of water was placed in the bathhouse, into which one could dive or pour oneself from it. A mandatory custom in the bathhouse is to apply heat to the stones or to the heater itself. The steam released is considered the most healing if herbs and bath brooms are infused or steamed in this water in advance. An unforgettable aroma appears in the bathhouse, which gives a special zest to the bathhouse. The heater stove plays a special and important role in the steam room. Special requirements were placed on it and only true masters of their craft assembled it. The steam room benches were located at different levels (heights) so that everyone could find their own comfort zone in the bathhouse. The bathhouse was supposed to have a small window to provide ventilation and fresh air. Real Russian baths were built from logs and the bathhouse was filled with the aroma of the forest. The cracks between the logs were caulked with clay, moss, tree resin - natural materials. The interior of the bathhouse was filled with wooden carved tables, benches, ladles, ladles, steamers, buckets, brooms and, of course, a Russian samovar in the dressing room.
Modern bath traditions have absorbed all the best and absorbed ancient customs, or partially modified them. Nowadays, bathhouses, saunas, hammams are being built at bases and holiday homes, as well as in spa centers, which complement each other and allow you to diversify your holiday. In private and home saunas they build luxurious pools, install plunge pools, sprinklers, and make rooms out of ice. The relaxation room is complemented by billiard rooms, massage rooms, special places for relaxation with aromatherapy, color therapy, speaker systems, sun loungers, hammocks, and upholstered furniture. The bathhouse can be finished in a variety of styles and a wide variety of finishing materials are used. But wood, a natural material, remains the most popular.
The bath procedures themselves remained unchanged, only all sorts of modern know-how were added. Sauna stoves can now include steam generator functions; it is possible to control the stove remotely and even remotely (via the Internet). Visitors to the bathhouse and sauna use various aromatic oils, honey during their visit and, as before, steam brooms in order to thoroughly steam each other in the steam room. Bath brooms are knitted from oak, linden, maple, aspen, birch, fir, juniper, nettle and various herbal mixtures. To fill the steam room with a delicious aroma, Canadian cedar and juniper are used to decorate the steam room (cuts and decorative panels). The latest modern trend in the decoration of steam rooms is the ancient Himalayan salt from the mountains of Tibet, which is mined in Pakistan. It has a number of useful healing properties and, when heated, releases many microelements that are beneficial to humans. The air in the steam room is similar to sea air and creates the effect of visiting a salt room. So, to summarize, we can say that modern bathhouse traditions are very diverse and multifaceted. Each bathhouse owner tries to create the most comfortable and convenient relaxation area and make it unique. Thanks to all the innovations listed above, the Russian bathhouse today is a multidimensional, diverse world for mental and physical relaxation, which works for healing and has real healing power!
Why and for whom Peter I created the imperial bath
Peter I, as follows from his travel journal, took a steam bath in the city baths, but soon switched to his own. So, in 1714, the emperor ordered the construction of the Monplaisir Palace in Peterhof, and by 1719–1721 it was decided to complete the construction of guest rooms, in one of which a soap shop was built, now known as the Bath complex. It was a spacious room, reminiscent of an ordinary Russian bathhouse, only with small nuances. It had a stove on which, instead of stones, there were huge cast-iron cannonballs: they turned out to be more durable and warmed up the room faster.
Peter I himself loved to steam and washed often and a lot. Judging by his travel log, he visited the bathhouse once a week as usual, or more often if he was unwell. Here he steamed, and if necessary, on the recommendations of doctors, he bled himself or took medicine from crushed worms and woodlice.
His wife Catherine I also loved to take a steam bath, and she was given access to the imperial bathhouse. But she always chose other days so as not to run into her husband.
At that time, only selected associates of the emperor visited this bathhouse; it was considered the best in the country. There they performed bloodletting, attached leeches and thus tried to physically cleanse themselves.
After the death of Peter I, the soap shop began to deteriorate. Only in 1748, under Elizabeth Petrovna, was it recognized as a relic of Peter the Great and moved to the Upper Garden, where it stood until the end of the 18th century. At the same place, by order of the queen, Rastrelli built a new soap house, but made of wood, with swimming pools and additional rooms in the attached outbuilding. Since then, guests relaxing in the outbuilding could also visit the royal bathhouse.
Swimming pool in the Central Baths of E.S. Egorova
