The most unusual saunas in the world. Sauna in a bag with birch leaves Interesting solutions in wooden construction

Unusual technologies are bursting into our lives faster than a tornado: today those who have not yet figured out a smartphone consider themselves residents of the last century. And the same story in construction: no matter how proven and good the bricks and logs turn out to be, tomorrow the bathhouses will already begin to “spit out” huge printers, and ordinary people are already building their steam rooms from scrap materials, competing to see whose architectural invention will last longer . Have you always dreamed of building a stunning steam room on your property? Adopt new technology!

Baths in style 2999

Build a bathhouse with ideal geometric shapes according to a standard drawing? Boring! So, at least modern architects think, and distort forms as much as they can:

Do you want to build such a miracle? Here are a couple more photo instructions:

Volume-modular construction: time of transformers

This interesting construction method appeared not so long ago in North America, and today there are entrepreneurs in Russia who have taken note of the idea. It all looks like this: in the morning a truck with a container arrives at the land plot, the cargo is removed from the trailer and placed on the foundation (concrete slab or piles, for example). Just four people unfold the house with their bare hands and connect the devices with communications. It was day one.

On the second day, furniture is delivered and the space is minimally decorated. On the third day, the whole family can move in and live. More such containers mean a more spacious house. The minimum area of ​​one such house is as much as 70 sq.m.

Moreover, it is not at all difficult to equip a Finnish sauna in such a house as a built-in one. And if you want to move somewhere, such a bath house can just as quickly be disassembled and transported in the same container. The second contains furniture, a sauna and household appliances. Amazing, isn't it?

Of course, this is an economical option. One such container in Russia costs from 15 to 30 thousand rubles per square meter. True, at this stage the issue of expensive transportation of such a house has not yet been resolved. So, for now, prefabricated Canadian bath houses are not very interesting for the ordinary Russian person, although marketers are actively working on this problem.

In the meantime, mini-saunas without a foundation are gaining popularity:

Transparent concrete: steam rooms in the form of ice sculptures

A sensational novelty among construction technologies is transparent concrete. This innovative composite material has the ability to truly transmit light, but it truly has all the properties of regular concrete. The same strength, water resistance, heat and sound insulation. But from now on, in such a bathhouse it will be possible to see not only what kind of stove is used and how many shelves are in the steam room, but also the vacationers themselves.

This miracle of technology came to us from the USA. For the first time, fences for government buildings began to be built from it, but several transparent objects have already been built in Sweden and Japan. For example, the main building of BMW was erected using this particular technology, for which it received the German Architecture Prize in 2005.

Lamps are also made from transparent concrete, the creator of which, architect A. Loshontsi, now gives lectures all over the world about the possibilities of construction from such a material.

Transparent concrete consists of a fine-grained matrix and fiber - dispersedly reinforced sections of glass fibers. This material has excellent compressive, bending and tensile strength, good impact strength and frost resistance. But the weight, unlike conventional concrete, is 40-60% less.

But in Russia, transparent concrete is considered more of a thermal insulation material than a monolith - there is even such a term as PTI, transparent thermal insulation. This also includes polycarbonate, by the way. Another transparent concrete that is actively used abroad is concrete, which is made by crushing broken glass using special equipment and gluing them together. But you won’t be able to see anything completely through such walls—in the same bathhouse, only silhouettes will be visible. Read more about new construction technologies on the website remvizor.ru - there are a lot of worthy articles there.

We also note separately the Frozen Smoke airgel, which is also called “frozen smoke”. It consists of 1% silicon anhydride and 99% air. A bathhouse built using such material is simply breathtaking: it seems as if the bricks are simply hanging in the air! But this gel is also fireproof, which is of particular value for a steam room.

Being very light, airgel is capable of holding enormous weights. And it is even used in space - to catch dust from the tail of comets. But it seems that a cosmic miracle will soon be in every home - all leading architects are sure of this. Shelves, a stove and even stones in the air - why not? There will be something to surprise your friends!

3D printers – the future has already arrived!

Already in several countries, special construction printers are being prepared for release at the same time, which are capable of printing entire buildings. These are the same 3D printers, only huge, and they print not with paint, but with concrete.

In appearance, the 3D printer looks like a designer set come to life: an overhead crane with a lifting capacity of 300 kg and a working area of ​​up to 20 m. Special rails have also been thought out for the design itself.

So, literally in a day, just one of the printers is capable of “printing” a house with an area of ​​200 sq.m. Instead of the reinforced foundation that we are used to, fiber cement is used, or rather, pseudo-reinforcement from it in the form of a W-link. Concrete is supplied from a device similar to a construction gun, and the hardening time of concrete in different places is strictly calculated. But the first step towards such a revolution was machine plastering, which saves a lot of time and provides excellent quality of work.

But for now, a 3D printer raises a lot of questions for many: will fiber cement replace a real foundation, how quickly does the mixture used harden in order to hold a new layer on itself, and why then does it not harden in the hose itself? How expensive will it be to rent such a colossus and how to move it? These are the questions that the creators of the 3D printer are working on. Let us remember that at one time faxing was also something of a fantasy, and 3D images were considered completely unrealizable. Therefore, it is quite possible that the scenario in the near future will develop like this: in the morning they wanted a bathhouse on the site - in the afternoon the 3D printer arrived - in the evening they already began the first decoration of the walls!

So, in Southern California, Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has already built something similar - his creation builds a house by producing separate ready-made blocks, the dimensions of which are strictly calculated. This 3D printer model is equipped with a special nozzle through which concrete is poured. Everything is controlled via a computer. This technology is called “Contour Crafting”, and thanks to it, a completely finished frame of a house or bathhouse appears in the white light. But windows, doors and communications are all done by hand.

You will be surprised, but in fact, 3D printers have existed for a long time and are actively used. Using such technologies, wood, iron and polymers are already printed. So why not build entire houses the way wasps and bees do?

Construction of a bathhouse with permanent formwork

Yes, we are talking about that very convenient permanent formwork that is increasingly used today for foundations - convenient and thermally efficient. But recently they began to build walls from such material. Moreover, today the main material used is polystyrene foam - such houses are warm and inexpensive, and with properly organized ventilation, the microclimate in such a building will be absolutely healthy. But when building a bathhouse using such an unusual technology, it is customary to remove the foam from inside the building - after the concrete itself has hardened. And use more natural materials as insulation.

But in the near future, scientists are going to use more environmentally friendly alternatives to foam using the same technology. So warm and light bathhouses will be built in just a week!

The only thing that the owners of such houses worry about is that any polystyrene foam contained in laminate, plastic windows, polystyrene foam, rubber mats and linoleum releases a harmful volatile substance called phenol. Therefore, ventilation in a modern house is really needed not only because of the walls.

Dome baths: unique technology in a new way

You have already heard that unique greenhouses, houses and bathhouses are being built in the form of geodesic domes: here is an example of this amazing technology:

And this architectural miracle is truly economical and looks amazing on any site, which is why work on this method continues to this day. And now, another know-how: now such houses and baths will not be built, and not even printed, but... inflated.

This method was proposed by the architect Nicolo Bini. In just a couple of hours, with little expense, you get a wonderful building, without seams or any interpanel joints. This dome is called Binishell, and the forefather of this technology was Dante Bini, who built a similar house right next to the active volcano Etna. Moreover, the domed house was able to withstand both hurricanes and earthquakes. And here's how binichell is built today:

• Step 1. The foundation is being built.
• Step 2. A ball and a durable membrane are placed on the foundation.
• Step 3. Temporary formwork is installed around the ball.
• Step 4. All this is filled with a good layer of concrete.
• Step 5. Now, using a powerful pump, the balloon is inflated to the desired size. The concrete, which has not yet hardened, takes on the shape of a dome.
• Step 6: The balloon is deflated and packed away for construction of the next house.

Inexpensive, effective and cute. Such houses are even often given a “green” roof, and then the result is absolutely amazing.

Cordwood baths: a DIY masterpiece!

This construction material is called “clay mortar”. The basis is ordinary wooden firewood and clay with straw (Translated, cordwood means “woodpile”). And even if right now you imagine that this is how you can only build a decrepit rural house, you are mistaken:

Here are the main advantages of such eco-houses:

1. Building materials are free.
2. Excellent thermal insulation.
3. 100% environmentally friendly.
4. Original appearance.
5. Durability and amazing ease of repair.

Clay and wood have a similar ability to absorb and release moisture. In summer, such a bathhouse will even be cool until the stove is lit, and in winter it will be warm. The walls instantly absorb and release moisture, and therefore there is no point in worrying about some kind of insulation and expensive foil material.

So, you still don't have a sauna because you're on a budget? Adopt this unusual technology and all your neighbors will be amazed!

• Step 1. We prepare good firewood and clay. It is better not to take whole firewood for such buildings - they can, unfortunately, crack. But chopped ones, especially aspen, are perfect. A good length of firewood is from 40 to 60 cm. Now make a canopy over the finished walls and keep them like that for 1.5-2 months.
• Step 2. We make a rubble base as the foundation of the bathhouse. It should go no more than a meter deep into the ground. Fill the stone layer by layer with clay or cement mortar.
• Step 3: Get colored glass bottles for wall decorations.
• Step 4. Chop the hay with an ax so that it is not long. The amount of clay should be 20% of the total volume of firewood. And the amount of straw is 10-15% of the volume of clay. It is this composition that will prevent the clay from cracking later. Here's how to mix: in a trough with water, mix sand with clay and add hay directly there. Place this mixture on the firewood.
• Step 5. Place supports if the bathhouse has a standard rectangular shape.
• Step 6. Lay out the walls: in a continuous manner, with an air gap or with some kind of insulation. For example, the void space can be filled with sawdust - it will be much warmer.
• Step 7. We make the roof: regular or just straw.
• Step 8. Install the stove and shelves - the sauna is ready! But if you are going to finish such a bathhouse, then let it settle for at least a year.

Moreover, steam rooms with such walls turn out to be very warm and absolutely environmentally friendly.

Interestingly, in Canada you can still find houses built using exactly this technology 100 years ago - and they are in excellent condition! And historical documents indicate that such buildings existed even in Greece and Siberia.For example, the St. Petersburg “House of Lovers” is made from ordinary birch firewood and is already several hundred years old!

Despite the thickness of the walls, the structure itself is surprisingly light, and a strip rubble foundation is really enough for it.By the way, there are baths that are built from bottles alone:

But if you are building such a bathhouse with corners, then tie the rows in these places as with brickwork.

Great ideas and inspiring progress, right?

Unusual baths

There are Russian baths, there are Turkish, there are Japanese, and there are unusual baths, those that are used in narrow circles, not so common, and some may not even know about their existence and that such a bath can bring any benefit. Next, we will consider in more detail the popular non-traditional unusual baths.

Sand bath

The bathhouse is unusual - the sand bath is quite common, river and sea sand have their own healing properties, which our ancestors knew about. Sand in direct sunlight heats up and releases heat and chemical elements. During the unusual sand procedure, the sand heats up and retains heat, and thanks to its crushed particles, sweat is absorbed quickly when sweating is continuous. Sweat is absorbed evenly, and in one such procedure you can lose about 600 grams of weight. With this procedure, the body avoids sudden changes in temperature, and therefore the load on the body is minimized. Taking a sand bath goes something like this: it forms a hole with a small depression, the length is the height of a person, the body is covered with sand, preferably up to the neck, and do not forget to cover your head or put up an umbrella, your head should remain in the shade. The procedure lasts about 10 minutes, and then take a swim in river or sea water. This unusual sand bath is useful for people with a weakened body, for diseases such as arthritis, nephritis, and women's diseases. Contraindicated for neoplasms, anemia, tuberculosis and depletion of the body.

Bath in a bag with birch leaves

A sauna in a bag with leaves is simple and unusual; a person is placed in a bag filled with birch leaves. The peculiarity of this procedure is that a special microclimate is formed inside the bag, and birch leaves have excellent healing properties. With profuse sweating, all toxins are simultaneously released from the body and at the same time healing microelements of the leaves enter. The same thing can be done not with birch leaves, but with flower hay, the effect will also be beneficial, and the aroma will be divine!

Bathhouse in a dung heap

A bathhouse in a dung heap, an even more exotic and unusual bathhouse probably cannot be imagined, but such a thing exists. This bath is useful for people with radiculitis and painful joints. A person is buried in manure for a couple of hours, the rotting process has a beneficial effect on the body, and visiting it about 20 times will show incredible results. Therefore, if you overcome yourself and place yourself in an unusual bathhouse - a bath with a smell, the healing effect will not be long in coming.

The most Russian form of recreation is experiencing its seasonal heyday: in winter, the number of visitors to public baths increases significantly. It is no longer possible to associate established stereotypes with some bathhouses: new ones are more like health centers, while old ones are being rebranded and reopened after large-scale reconstructions. The Village selected a dozen of the city's most notable bathhouses and discussed their benefits with regulars.

Sandunovskie baths

Operating mode

08:00−22:00,
sanitary day - Tuesday

Price

1,500−2,300 rubles /
2 hours

Steamer

1,320 rubles

SPA, beauty salon, restaurant, laundry

Sanduny is the main city baths, with a two-hundred-year history. You can go here not only for physical, but also for aesthetic pleasure: in the highest men's category there is an Empire style fireplace room, a Gothic room, a Turkish room and an antique swimming pool. Other categories look simpler, but, except in the interiors, there are practically no differences: it is believed that the quality of service in Sanduny is the best in Moscow. Movies have been filmed in Sanduny more than once, excursions and Hollywood actors come here, but not everyone likes it: Sanduny’s opponents complain that they feel like they’re in a museum here. Employees also publish a newspaper of the same name and actively work with social networks, offering discounts for check in and subscriptions on Instagram.

Elena Ivanova

HR manager

My sister and I have a tradition - to go to Sanduny on Fridays once every three weeks. The women's division gets crowded on Friday nights, but it's still a good time to get pumped up for the weekend. Among other things, you come here for the atmosphere, for this historical feeling. According to observations: women who prepare a steam room every 45 minutes are regular visitors themselves and do it simply because they like it. The categories for women differ in the number of people: in the highest it is more free and the steam room works constantly. Among the services, I like the “Soap Wash” - a very high-quality full body massage using gels, and they don’t look at the time and often do an hour instead of 40 minutes. During the time I've been going there, I haven't had a single complaint - everything here is at a high level.

Krasnopresnensky baths

Operating mode

08:00−23:00,
Mon. 08:00−22:00

Price

1,200−1,700 rubles /
2 hours

Steamer

700 rubles

SPA, hairdresser, cosmetologist, cafe Presnya

The main competitor of the Sandunovsky baths is that regulars here traditionally consider them stupid and pretentious. The price category and audience are approximately the same, but the capacity is larger and many additional cosmetic procedures are offered - they even offer Ayurvedic massage with herbal bags. The bath attendants prepare the steam room approximately every 40 minutes. In addition to the main menu, the restaurant has an extensive Japanese menu - udon, fried rice, three types of miso soup and rolls.

Alexey Chagin

For me, there are two bathhouses where you can relax and feel a certain spirit of the city - Sanduny and Krasnopresnensky. The highest ranks there are similar: everywhere is clean and the staff is friendly. In Krasnopresnensky, an important advantage is that the steam room is regularly ventilated and new steam is created. Bathhouse attendants can really take a good steam - an ordinary visitor will not be able to do the same. Delicious cuisine, I recommend the shrimp. Household details like chips on cups can spoil the impression a little.

Warsaw Baths

Operating mode

09:00−23:00,
Sat.-Sun. 08:00−23:00

Price

1,500 rubles / 3 hours

Steamer

from 1,000 rubles

beauty salon, massage, cosmetologist, restaurant “Shaika-Leika”

The Warsaw Baths have been operating since 1938, and recently a new milestone began in their history - after reconstruction in 2012, they turned into a wellness complex with an original design and began to cooperate with the Ginza Project. The decoration of the steam rooms, dressing rooms and washing rooms have nothing in common with the ornate interiors of Sanduny and the post-Soviet chic of the Krasnopresnensky baths. The menu of the local restaurant includes several dozen items, including grilled dishes, burgers and steaks. There is a decent bar. In the steam room itself you can order a dozen different steaming sessions: four-handed, with inhalation, with ice and with honey - prices start from 800 rubles. They sell subscriptions and packages of bath services. The role of VIP sections here is played by the “Baths of Peace” on the fourth floor - they are decorated in Russian, Byzantine and British styles and are heated with wood-burning stoves.

Mikhail Gogolev

specialist
by sales

I have been going to the Warsaw Baths for almost two years - there is a favorable atmosphere, everything is done with taste and quality. The staff is friendly and attentive. The steam room is cleaned every 30 minutes. Patrons often sing patriotic songs on weekends. The prices are not low, but they correspond to the quality. The Shaika-Leika restaurant is good, plus they give a discount to bathhouse clients, which is also nice.

Vorontsovskie baths

Operating mode

09:00−23:00, Sanitary day - Monday

Price

1,200−1,300 rubles / 4 hours

Steamer

2,000 rubles

beauty salon, cosmetologist, solarium, restaurant

Spacious, bright baths on Taganka with views of the Novospassky Monastery and Vorontsovskaya Sloboda. There are two men's categories, one women's, several saunas - elite and democratic - and numbered baths for groups of up to ten people with the telling names "Minimalism" and "Indiana". You can order steaming on hay, fir and oak brooms. On Fridays in the morning prices are halved. There is nothing unusual among the services or in the interior, but there is also no shortage of fans.

Alexey Tryapochkin

manager
on planning

For the last few years I have been going to the highest category of Vorontsov Baths, and at a specific time - on Sunday evenings. There is objectively the best steam at a decent level of everything else: a comfortable dressing room and washing room, high-quality food and service. In three hours, five to seven fresh steams are prepared in the steam room, each time using new bases: lemon balm, eucalyptus, lemongrass, horseradish, wormwood. The steam is prepared by enthusiastic visitors to the bathhouse, and not by the bathhouse attendant; the herbs are purchased independently, so on another day this may not happen in the same bathhouses. On the downside: visitors are mainly from the category of strong men over 40. However, this is the case almost everywhere. The restaurant menu could have been bigger, and the pool too. But these are all nitpicks rather than cons.

Seleznyovsky baths

Operating mode

Price

1,500−1,700 rubles / 2 hours

Steamer

Another long-lived bathhouse, operating since the mid-19th century. It hasn’t been repaired for a very long time, and you should be prepared for this: you will encounter both rust and broken tiles. The staff is also Soviet-style, but regulars here don’t expect subtle treatment - they go for the steam, one of the best in Moscow. And here is the largest font.

Alexey Klementyev

producer

Very brutal baths, with an old real stove - there is no such thing anywhere in Moscow. Steam with the lowest possible humidity comes out of it, that is, the water instantly receives the highest temperature. In one of the categories there is a powerful propeller that blows out everything unnecessary from the steam room. Only regulars go there, go for steam and know how to cook it. In general, the bathhouse is for the prepared: I witnessed how a guy who overestimated himself in the steam room started bleeding from his nose. Seleznevskie is the best option for those who have little time and little money, but need to warm up deeply and recover.

Usachevskie baths

Operating mode

08:00−23:00 (men)

08:00−23:00, Thursday until 18:00 (women)

Price

1,000−1,200 rubles

Steamer

beauty saloon,
fitness, cafe

Baths in the building of the sports and recreation complex - on the way you can go to a sports club or boxing training. One of the best price-quality ratios. The last renovation was done just six months ago; inside there are spacious locker rooms and washing departments. There is an opinion that it is good to go here with children: there is soft steam. The next feature is unlimited visiting time: other baths offer two- and three-hour sessions for the same price. Regulars say that it’s worth getting sauerkraut at the local buffet, and also that on Saturday mornings they prepare a special steam: at this time, the steam room is hosted by a group of old men who call themselves “gentlemen Cossacks.”

Yulia Bogomolova

specialist
in Marketing
and communications

We go to Usachevsky Baths with friends on Fridays to relax and chat. There is something very Russian here and the steam is very good. The laws on the territory of the bathhouse are strict: they can force you to sweep up leaves in the steam room that have attacked from brooms, bring water, and so on. But this is mostly a test for beginners. We steamed, ventilated the room, cleaned up after ourselves and started again - there is no special staff to take care of this. But it seems that this is only being done for the good.

Baths and saunas are by no means new; they are the invention of our ancestors. Back in ancient times, humanity discovered a great way to improve your health, rejuvenate and just have a good time - these are hot steam rooms. The nature of the steam - wet or dry, as well as other components of a sauna relaxation - vary depending on the region. Baths and saunas are most popular in the northern, cold regions of our planet. We bring to your attention the most popular and interesting baths in the world.

1. Rauhaniemi, Finland

As you know, Finns are experts in saunas. The most popular and oldest sauna in Finland is Rauhaniemi in Tampere, built back in 1906. It is located right on the shore of the large lake Näsijärvi. This is the best place for walruses in winter. Heated paths lead from the sauna directly into the lake, in which a spacious wormwood is cut down; the water temperature is 2-4 degrees Celsius. The extensive Rahaniemi steam room can accommodate about 70 people, and there is also a second, smaller steam room. For a good healing effect, it is recommended to warm up well in the steam room and cool off in the wormwood several times. In summer, a resort area is set up here with all the conditions for a beach holiday.

2. Flying sauna gondola, Finland

It is worth mentioning another Finnish sauna in the ski resort of Ylläs, Finland. Its unusual feature is that the sauna is located in... a cable car cabin! The cable car cabin is lined with wood outside and inside. A session in the steam room lasts about 20 minutes - that’s how long it takes to climb to a height of 718 meters. Four people can fit in the sauna at the same time. If you wish, at the upper station of the cable car you can get out and plunge into the purest snow. The cabin is equipped with transparent windows from the inside, from where you can admire the impressive mountain landscapes. By the way, at the top station of the lift there is a stationary sauna that can accommodate 17 people, and the cable car cabin is like its “branch”.

3. Gellert, Hungary

There are about 120 thermal springs located in the capital of Hungary, Budapest. The healing power of hot mineral water was noted by the ancient Romans living in these territories. The most famous of the resort complexes is located at the foot of Gellért Hill in the center of Budapest, right on the banks of the Danube River. The complex was opened back in 1918 and is one of the most beautiful architectural sights of the capital. Immersing yourself in the fables of the Gellert complex feels like taking a bath in at least a cathedral - marble columns supporting high arches, multi-colored stained glass windows and colorful mosaics. There are baths and saunas, baths and swimming pools, thermal baths, massage services and other wellness treatments.

4. Friedrichsbad, Germany

During antiquity, on the territory of Baden-Baden, Germany, there were ancient Roman baths - public baths. Duke Frederick I dreamed of reviving the culture of health and recreation there. And in 1869, he ordered the construction of a majestic building for public baths in Baden-Baden. There are men's and women's wings connected by a large swimming pool, and the interior of the baths contains marble colonnades and statues of ancient gods. A tourist coming here for the first time will be recommended to go through the entire bathing ritual of Friedrichsbad, consisting of 17 procedures, following one after another. This ritual combines dry steam rooms, soapy massage, wet steam rooms, hydromassage pools, and the final part is a relaxation room where you can get plenty of sleep.

5. Liquidrom, Germany

In Germany, as you know, they know a lot about good music. That is why a hybrid of a bathhouse and... a nightclub was created here. The interior of the complex is decorated with natural stone, and the steam rooms are traditionally made of wood. There are dry and wet steam rooms, a salt cave and a sauna with a panoramic glass wall, massage rooms and an outdoor terrace with sun loungers for relaxation. The highlight of the Liquidrom complex is the vast seawater swimming pool, where twilight and sparkling disco lights always reign. In the evenings you can hear sets from local DJs, and concerts are held on weekends. Moreover, the speakers are installed even underwater, so when you dive, you can hear the music even better.

6. Sauna Deco, Holland

A small sauna in the heart of Amsterdam, Holland, is known primarily for its unusual design for a sauna in the Art Deco style of the early 20th century. The exquisite details of the interior by the recognized master Boileau - a staircase with a bronze balustrade, a glass elevator shaft, gilded stained glass windows - were inherited from the sauna after the renovation of the interior in a large Parisian department store. There are no male or female sections; moreover, it is prohibited to wear swimsuits in the sauna. There are two saunas with different temperatures, as well as a Turkish hammam with eucalyptus steam, a hydromassage pool and an internal garden terrace. It is in the Deko sauna that the best massage therapists in Amsterdam work, and the queue for them is written far ahead.

7. Sandunovskie Bani, Russia

The public baths, built by theater actor Sandunov in 1818, are considered the most popular in Moscow. According to legend, the enterprising actor founded his own business with money raised from the sale of a diamond necklace given to his wife by Empress Catherine II as a wedding gift. At the end of the 19th century, a pompous building was erected on the site of the dilapidated baths, striking in its luxury and mixture of styles. The clients of the baths at that time were different - from ordinary people to rich merchants. The women's and men's sections are located separately, but the main architectural beauties are available only to men. An interesting fact is that bathhouse attendants and steamers work here in dynasties, each with their own day and their own clientele.

8. Gedyk Pasha, Türkiye

Authentic Turkish baths - Gedik Pasha Hammam - are the oldest in Istanbul, Türkiye. They were built back in the 15th century, and most guidebooks write that only local residents go here. However, this is not so, and a tourist who finds himself in the Gedik Pasha hammam will be pleasantly surprised. At the entrance you are given peshtemal towels and sheets. It is not too hot in the main hall of the Hararet, because it is customary to stay here for a long time, as if languishing and occasionally cooling off in the pool. For those who like something “hot,” there is a classic high-temperature sauna. In the center of the room there is a hot “belly stone”, on which clients receive a peeling massage using a hard mitt. Foam soap massage is also in favor here, which allows you to perfectly cleanse the skin. The men's and women's sections are located separately here.

9. Daikoku-Yu, Japan

Baths are also loved and appreciated in Japan, however, the heating technology here is slightly different. Instead of steam rooms, public baths called “sento” have hot water baths in which people actually sit, sweat and relax. Since 1927, the Daikoku-Yu bathhouse has been operating in Tokyo, which is called the “King of Sento”. From the outside, the bathhouse looks the same as it did in the distant 20s, resembling a Buddhist temple in appearance. But inside, extensive renovations and improvements were made in the late 90s. There are hot baths with temperatures up to 45 degrees, as well as cold and massage ones, there is even an outdoor bath. Tourists are amazed by the calm and leisurely atmosphere that reigns inside the bathhouse, both among clients and staff. But it is the complete relaxation of body and soul that gives its healing effect.

10. Dragon Hill Spa, Korea

Dragon Hill Spa in Seoul, Korea is a real Disneyland bathhouse! Entire families come here, and tickets are sold not for an hour or two, but for 12 hours. There really is something to do here. The seven floors of the complex are occupied not only by baths and swimming pools, but also by spa salons, massage rooms, a fitness club, a cafe and restaurant, and even a golf course. The main feature of the complex is the original dry steam rooms. In one, the floor is covered with layers of salt, the other is decorated with jade, the surface of the third is covered with cypress, and the fourth is heated with pine wood. There are also wet steam rooms and baths, as well as an ice room with a real snowman, where you can undergo a cryotherapy session. Men's and women's areas are located separately, there are relaxation rooms and a beautiful hall in a medieval style.

To compile this rating, we visited the most popular baths and saunas in Moscow and are now ready to advise lovers of heat and brooms the best places to take a steam bath. So:

Usachevsky

This place is extremely popular among those who are not ready to spend serious money on a bathhouse, but at the same time count on truly high-quality heat and do not shy away from the rather peculiar manners of the local steam bathers.

Here you will find a classic Soviet interior with wooden partitions painted in a depressing burgundy color and tiles, which in the pre-perestroika years were glued to these walls using a mixture of Moment glue with dry construction plaster.

There is no swimming pool as such, the list of additional services looks extremely ascetic and includes, in addition to washing, only cosmetic procedures and massage. “Sadness and melancholy,” some will say. Nothing like that, just look at the local contingent! Stunning elderly professors, sophisticated ladies from the house on the embankment, and young ladies who are like two peas in a pod like the characters in the popular Soviet drama “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears” often like to come here.

It has its own atmosphere and a crowd of avid bath attendants. Just one thousand two hundred rubles - and you will have the opportunity to stay in this “fairy-tale” place as long as your heart desires.

Seleznevskys

The primordial spirit of the old baths reigns here, and to this day the Soviet people live happily and well: the bathhouse attendants colorfully blow their noses into the sewage every now and then, tell obscene jokes and from time to time give each other rude compliments. And the steam that the grandmothers who work here provide is simply something! It is quite possible to go into a steam room as a sin and simply not return back.

As you probably already guessed, the word “repair” has not been heard here for a long time; it is quite possible to run into rust and burst tiles. Despite all this, the Seleznevsky baths are considered the best of the capital’s baths, and the quality of the local steam is legendary.

Sandunovskys

This is not just a bathhouse in Moscow, but a real monument of cultural heritage (the heat here has been famous throughout Moscow since 1808), and at the same time, perhaps the most “star” washing station in the entire eastern part of the Old World. Fyodor Chaliapin and Vladimir Gilyarovsky himself took a steam bath here more than once (“whoever hasn’t been to Sanduny has never seen Moscow”). After all, this is where Doronin-era Naomi Campbell loved to soap her gorgeous feet.

In a word, the place is extremely interesting. Just a dozen years ago, passage here for ordinary people was prohibited due to the high cost. Judge for yourself - entrance to the first-class cabin (where there is a stove from a steam locomotive and the most beautiful steam) cost about a thousand American dollars.

However, times have changed and baths have become closer to the people. At the moment, a booth in the highest women's category will cost 1,850 rubles, for the first category you will have to pay one and a half thousand. Remember that when coming here on weekends, you need to be prepared to stand in a huge line among Moscow fashionistas who love to first generously smear themselves with Siberian mud, then lie around in a “cocoon” suit, and then steam and dive into the plunge pool. Join us!

Warsaw

The results of the recent reconstruction were increased prices, the absence of cockroaches, grannies with basins and a modernized design. The bathhouses of the peoples of the world located on the fourth floor make a particularly strong impression: it’s like a wild Ginza fantasy.

Here you will be offered professional service and an individual approach to everyone who wants to take a steam bath, and local specialists will probably buzz everyone’s ears with monologues about how wonderful it is to order a personal bathhouse and that everyone here does it.

It will all end with a local professional setting up the right temperature for you in the steam room, giving you some herbs to steam, wrapping you in a branded towel, as if from the Starkov hotel, while at the same time starting an unobtrusive conversation about the meaning of life and the search for sources of pleasure in it - they like things like that here Topics.

Despite all the negative aspects that the innovations brought with them, Varshavka also has an extremely significant, serious plus: a luxurious procedure for washing the body. Just imagine how gently they rub and pamper you. Girls, believe me, this is a real treat for your party-weary little body.

Krasnopresnensky

These baths are considered the main competitor of Sanduny and, despite the lack of historicity, enjoy well-deserved respect among lovers of steam and brooms. Here you will find a magnificent Russian steam room, cool “old-regime” staff and leatherette upholstery from the times of stagnation.

In addition, you can enjoy the now popular spa treatments, cryosauna, Ayurvedic massage, milk and almond peeling, and even separate VIP rooms, which modern baths rarely do without.

Local bath attendants prepare the steam room every forty minutes, creating an optimal balance between moisture and heat. They're not going to steam anyone to death here, but you can't expect much mercy either. The description of what is happening in the steam room is very reminiscent of the plot of low-budget mystical TV series: visitors enter, stack themselves on the shelves, and in the ringing silence the bath attendant begins to turn up the heat.

In the center of this entire idyll, a bucket of cold water, like ice, appears as a salvation for the faint-hearted; visitors are thrilled and quietly slide down the walls.