How and when did the baths appear in Russia?

For people who lead a healthy lifestyle, going to the bath is one of the most important components of maintaining the body in excellent shape. But not many people know that the Russian bath is strikingly different from the same institutions in other nations of the world. Foreigners who have been in the steam room can not safely endure high humidity and beating with a birch broom. "Overseas" guests are often interested: when did baths appear in Russia? And what makes people so barbarically torturing themselves in a small hot room?

From nomad tribes to princes of Kiev

Even deepened in the study of historical chronicles, it is impossible to say exactly when the first bath in Russia appeared. After all, the nomadic tribes of the Scythians used special tents made of wooden poles, covered with animal skins and with a hearth in the middle, for ritual cleansing, and simply washing in hikes.

Before cleaning, stones were burned at the stake, which were then poured with water or broths of herbs. A Scythian woman rubbed on the heated stones sprigs of cypress and cedar with water. The resulting gruel was applied to the skin and held for a day. Wash off this mask with warm water the next day. This procedure contributed not only to cleaning the skin from dirt and inflammatory diseases, but also gave her an incredibly fresh fragrance.

Wooden frame or stone mansions

Studying the work of Nestor the Chronicler, the scientists found data on the century in which bathhouses appeared in Russia. The monk writes that already in the 5-6 centuries. Tribes of the Slavs used to wash the soap with hot steam and brooms.

The pagan beliefs of that time identified washing in the steam room with the purification of the soul and body from filth and unity with the forces of nature: with the spirits of water, earth, air and fire. All the important events in the life of the man of that time, from birth to death, were closely related to the heat of the black mob.

For a long time, the bathhouse was called black because of the smoke that was accumulating in the room during the storm. Only after the baths with chimney appeared in Russia, they became simply soaps. The building itself was a wooden house with an oven, with the help of which the room was heated to the required temperature.

Due to the fact that such a "flimsy" structure easily ignited, Prince Vladimir also issued a decree, which ordered the construction of baths by the rivers in order to avoid mass fires. When baths of stone appeared in Russia, it is not known exactly, but in the middle of the 17th century there were public steam rooms in large cities.

Women's and men's

Up until the reign of Catherine the Great, the rooms of the couples were common to both women and men. In such establishments it was possible not only to wash, but also to communicate with other people, to hear the latest news. In a large room could be members of several families with children of different ages, and this behavior was considered the norm.

In what year there were baths in Russia, divided by sex? In 1743, the Senate decree divided the room of the bathhouse into two parts: male and female. From this moment on the territory of the male bath, individuals of a different gender at the age of up to seven years were allowed, the same was with the female half.

Luxury or necessity

In Russia, pairs were almost in every yard, if its size was allowed. Once a week, most often on Saturday, the home baths were heated and washed by the whole family. Those who did not have a large farmstead and soap house had the opportunity to visit the common pairs.

Such institutions worked for a small fee, anyone could take a steam. Even during the reign of Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko, the baths were used to treat various ailments. A century later, the famous monk-healer Agapiy healed the sick only with baths and healing herbs. Following the charter of the holy place, all the suffering people visited the bathing facilities three times a month.

"Our" abroad

When baths appeared in Russia, it is more or less clear. But over time, Russian paired have become fashionable in other countries. It all began with the trip of Peter the Great to France. The guardsmen accompanying the tsar, because of their long "doing nothing" began to lose their health. To the service people did not lose form, Peter ordered to build on the banks of the Seine a real Russian steam room.

Europeans were horrified when they saw men flushed with steam on the river bank, throwing themselves into cold water. On what the great king told about the health benefits of such procedures.

Emigration of Russians during the revolution also gave its results: America, England and Africa learned about the existence of such healthy procedures.

Health and longevity

When baths appeared in Russia, our ancestors immediately noticed their healing properties. After warming up, the body easily tolerated various loads, it was easier to recover after severe illnesses.

Tatars, French and other peoples for a long time believed that thanks to this "wild" way of recovery, Russian men had strong health and incredible endurance, and women were famous for their beauty, youth and pleasant skin color.

Bath treatments have a beneficial effect on all organs and body systems:

• Nervous system (soothe and relax);
• Cardiovascular (accelerate blood circulation, as a result, the work of the brain improves);
• Respiratory;
• Endocrine.

Fashionable place

Until the beginning of the 19th century, "shopping" soaps were a place for washing and collecting gossip. But after the construction of large stone buildings in the center of large cities - with separate cabinets, cozy buffets - the baths became the main place where representatives of noble families preferred to gather.

Aristocrats gathered in a narrow circle to solve important problems, reading literature and simple rest. Following the Russians, such pairs began to be visited by foreigners.

The most famous "secular" baths by right can be called Sandunovskie, which at one time collected the entire color of the aristocracy. And for today this object is an architectural monument.

New time, new baths

The history of bathhouses in Russia is long and exciting. Today, after several centuries, a real steam room is difficult to find in big cities. Increasingly, residents of megacities prefer foreign analogues, which do not require the use of a broom, and, in terms of temperature, significantly differ from a real Russian steam room.

The Finnish sauna, Turkish hamam, Roman baths captivated the minds of people of the twenty-first century. Newfangled trends, grafted Slavs in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, are contrary to the concepts of proper existence in harmony with nature. It is not for nothing that the pagans of the 5th and 6th centuries considered it a norm to cleanse their bodies with the help of the whiskers in a hot and humid room of the bathhouse and drink a large number of herbal infusions in the process.

When you see the sign "Russian Bath" in the city, you can be sure that you will not find anything to do with the original original. Such establishments, arranged in apartments or shopping centers, are more like saunas.

But when you get an offer to visit a country steam room, do not refuse. It is there that you can experience real unity with nature. The sauna, heated by a wood-burning stove, standing on the river bank, will give pleasure and a charge of health, energy for a long time, will make an indelible impression.

The history of the Slavic peoples hides many secrets and mysteries. But thanks to the annals, scientists have already uncovered many secrets. Perhaps the Mongols were right, and it was the bath that was the means to maintain the health of the body and spirit of Russian militia several centuries ago.