The unique Russian steam bath

In A．D．９４６，the Russian Grand Duke Igor was killed by the Delieflians．In the second year，his wife Oligathought out a brilliant plan to avenge1） her husband．She invited those murderers to take a bath in a bathroom，locked the door and added fuel to the fire to increase the heat of the room，so that those inside were steamed to death．This historical record shows that there were steam baths in Russia as early as a thousand years ago．

We can’ t tell the exact time when the Russian steam bath first appeared．It is said there were written records of steam baths since Russian history began．

Many nations of the world had the habit of taking steam bath in the old days．In the Orient2），there were the Persians，the Japanese and the Turks．In Europe，there were the Romans，the Irish and the Finns．But the Russian steam bath was quite different from others’．People not only steam themselves，but also whip their bodies with twigs3）．Then they washed their bodies with cold water．That used to amaze a lot of foreigners．When the Russian Tsar Peter the Great visited France，his residence was provided with a steam bathroom specially for the Russian visitors．The Parisians were amazed to see a crowd of naked males rushing out with shouts and cheers from the bathroom and dive into the icy 4）Seine River．They ducked their heads into the water again and again，and then went back to the bathroom．

Not only the way to have a Russian steam bath is unique，the installations of the bath room are also unique．

In some areas in Russia，people used stoves both for cooking and for heating up the bath water，so the chamber of the stove was very big，enough to hold one or even two persons．Before taking a bath，they cleaned the stove floor with a broom，then put the dust into a bucket of water and stirred it．When the water cleared up，there would be a layer of liquid called“dust juice”on the surface，which people substituted for soap in old days when soap was very expensive．

A Russian steam bathroom was compose d of two separate log cabins．One was the change room，t he other was the steam bathroom．There was a rectangular5） brick stove with a boiler beside which people put some small round stones．When the water was boiling，the stones would also be heated．Then people would pour some hot water over the stones and the room would be filled with steam．There was no chimney in the room，so the walls and ceiling were blackened by smoke with the passage of time ．People lay on a long bench with steps beside the stove．They got steamed and whipped every part of their bodies with tender white birch twigs．Because of the intense heat，they would pour cold water over their bodies to cool down．During winter，some people preferred to rub their bodies with snow or dip in ice holes．They would return to the bathroom and get steamed again after they had got cooled．They would repeat this procedure several times．

Steam bath was very prevalent in Tsarist days．At the beginning of １９th century，there were ８０public bathrooms in Moscow．Most Russian people took one or two baths every week．common people spent two kopecks6） to have a bath in the public bathroom．That was not a small sum in those days．Aristocrats7） had their own luxurious private bathroom built with marbles，some of which were imported specially from Italy．There were also some public bathrooms for the aristocrats．The most famous one was Shendulov Bathroom which was set up and managed by palace comedians Mr．and Mrs．Shendulov in １８０６．It’ s admission ticket was very expensive．The cost for four baths was equal to the price of a cow．

Though most modern dwelling houses a re equipped with bathrooms nowadays，the steam bath i s still very popular．The Shendulov bathroom still remain s today and is open to public．Out of curiosity many people wish to enjoy the aristocratic steam bath．They have to line up for admission．

The steam bath is very beneficial to people’s health．It can accelerate blood circulation an d metabolism8），enhance the activity of the respiratory9） system and cardiac muscles and preventflu．It is also good for the skin．