Different countries have different public bathing rituals. In Finland it’s the sauna, in Turkey the hamam, the Japanese have their onsens and the Russians their banyas. The Russian banya is used for more than just sweating and bathing though. Women give birth there and funerals and weddings are also celebrated.
The bride-to-be’s bania was heated with birch, pine or cedar, but never aspen for it was regarded as a sorrowful tree. During the bath she was expected to use the engagement present from the groom-a fresh birch whisk and a piece of soap. Her sweat was collected by pouring milk over her body and then dough was plastered over her. Later the dough was kneaded and made into bread and cakes to be served at the wedding feast. The bride-to-be’s sweat mixed with vodka, wine, and grains were poured on the bania rocks to enhance the scent. Honey and hops were added to give the bride-to-be a rich sweet life.
image by Horst
Occasionally a poor peasant family would not have a regular bania, but so important was the wedding bania that the household baking oven would be used instead. Before all the cakes and breads had been prepared, the oven was cleaned and the bride-to-be was shoved in on a wooden platter. The door was sealed from the outside while she sweated and washed alone.
Bun in the Oven Candle found here
The Church often accused the banya of being a hotbed of sin and loose morals. But cries from the Church were usually muffled by the clergy’s own promiscuous bathing habits.
image found here
Catherine of St. Petersburg issued the following edict: ” … in those rooms which are meant for women, no men may be allowed in except employees of the bania, artists and doctors who wish to study and improve themselves in their art.” As you can well imagine, dilettantes of the arts and medicine flourished, and coed bathing continued.
When Robert Porter visited Moscow in 1809, he found coed bathing very popular. In a letter to a friend in England he wrote:
As we approached these cleansing elevations we beheld the waters that rolled from under their foundations filled with naked persons of both sexes who waded or swam out from the bath in great numbers, without any consideration of delicacy or decency. From motives of gallantry we posted ourselves opposite the ladies, the better to observe the grace and nymph-like beauty of their groups.
lots more banya images over at englishrussia