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Sunday, 16 March 2014
Traditions and old beliefs
One word in Finnish, strictly connected to sauna, is löyly. Steam vapor, also called löyly [ˈløyly], was created by splashing water on the heated rocks. In many languages related to Finnish, a word corresponding to löyly is found. The same approximate meaning is used across the Finnic languages such as in Estonianleil. Originally this word meant "spirit" or "life", as in e.g. Hungarian lélek and Khanty lil, which both mean soul, pointing to the sauna's old, spiritual essence. There still exists an old Finnish saying, "saunassa ollaan kuin kirkossa," – one should behave in the sauna as in church.
The same meaning of "spirit" is also used in Latvian.
Saunatonttu, literally translated the sauna elf, is a little gnome or tutelary spirit that was believed to live in the sauna. He was always treated with respect, otherwise he might cause much trouble for people. It was customary to warm up the sauna just for the tonttu every now and then, or to leave some food outside for him. It is said that he warned the people if a fire was threatening the sauna, or punished people who behaved improperly in it – for example slept, or played games, argued, were generally noisy or behaved otherwise "immorally" there. Such creatures are believed to exist in different cultures. The Russian banya has an entirely corresponding character called a bannik.
In Thailand, women spend hours in a makeshift sauna tent during a month following child birth. The steam is typically infused with several herbs. It is believed that the sauna helps the new mother's body return to its normal condition more quickly.
The same meaning of "spirit" is also used in Latvian.
Saunatonttu, literally translated the sauna elf, is a little gnome or tutelary spirit that was believed to live in the sauna. He was always treated with respect, otherwise he might cause much trouble for people. It was customary to warm up the sauna just for the tonttu every now and then, or to leave some food outside for him. It is said that he warned the people if a fire was threatening the sauna, or punished people who behaved improperly in it – for example slept, or played games, argued, were generally noisy or behaved otherwise "immorally" there. Such creatures are believed to exist in different cultures. The Russian banya has an entirely corresponding character called a bannik.
In Thailand, women spend hours in a makeshift sauna tent during a month following child birth. The steam is typically infused with several herbs. It is believed that the sauna helps the new mother's body return to its normal condition more quickly.
Fun Fact- Heating and Cooling the Inner Body
Marvelous things happen beneath the skin in the heat of the sweat bath. The capillaries dilate permitting increased flow of blood to the skin in an attempt to draw heat from the surface and disperse it inside the body. The bather's skin becomes cherry red. The heart is pressed into a faster pace to keep up with the additional demands for blood. Impurities in the liver, kidneys, stomach, muscles, brain, and most other organs are flushed out by the faster flow of juices. The skin and kidneys filter the wastes, excreting them in sweat and urine.
Some researchers claim that the rapid flexing of the heart and blood vessels in the heat of the sweat bath is a healthy exercise that puts little more strain on the heart than strolling on level ground. The increased capillary volume, they say, keeps blood pressure normal.
While the surface temperature of the skin may rise as much as 1O degrees C, inner temperature increases up to 3 degrees C. It is a common knowledge that many bacterial and viral agents do not survive well at temperatures higher than normal body temperature. It is also possible that damaged cells repair themselves quicker in fever conditions due to the increased metabolic rate. Recovery from illness then comes easier and quicker.
The inner temperature rise also affects the function of important endocrine glands, the pituitary in particular. Located in the bottom center of the brain, the pituitary is known as the master gland because its hormones regulate both metabolism and the activity of other glands such as the thyroid, adrenal, ovaries and testes. Urged by the heat, the pituitary accelerates the body's metabolism and affects the interplay of several of the body's hormones. Some people have gone as far to say that sex drive is increased and growth stimulated in the sauna bath.
The oxygen needs of the body increase by about 2O percent so the lungs, another important eliminator of body wastes, join in the body's quickened pace. Clogged respiratory passages are opened by heat, giving relief from colds and other minor respiratory problems. Sweat bathing is not recommended for those suffering from pneumonia or other acute respiratory diseases.
When the bocly is slowly cooled, the effects of heat are reversed--the heart calms, sweat pores close, dilated blood vessels contract and body temperature returns to normal. On the other hand, abrupt cooling brought on by a plunge into snow or icy water creates a more dramatic effect. For this reason, people with weak constitutions should avoid rapid cooling. Vessels near the skin's surface contract, but since the skin's metabolism returns to normal slower than the circulatory system, wastes accumulate that are normally washed out by the blood. Local vasodilators are then stimulated and blood rushes back to the skin's surface. The heart continues to beat vigorously and you may experience psychedelic flashes bouncing across your retina from the increased adrenal activity--an unforgettable experience! Goose bumps sometimes appear, a phenomenon reminiscent of the time when our prehistoric ancestors possessed a shaggy pelt of hair. Goose bumps extended the hair, making it thicker and giving more insulating power against cold or protection from attack. The swift transition from hot to cold stimulates the kidneys and usually creates the desire to urinate.
The typical body is 6O% water by weight and any pounds lost at this point will be promptly regained. As you can imagine, the combination of sweat bathing and cooling conditions the body, and a well-tuned body is more resistant to colds, disease and infection. In cold weather, the warm glowing feeling lingers for hours, while in hot climates the body seems cooler than before the sweat bath.
Some researchers claim that the rapid flexing of the heart and blood vessels in the heat of the sweat bath is a healthy exercise that puts little more strain on the heart than strolling on level ground. The increased capillary volume, they say, keeps blood pressure normal.
While the surface temperature of the skin may rise as much as 1O degrees C, inner temperature increases up to 3 degrees C. It is a common knowledge that many bacterial and viral agents do not survive well at temperatures higher than normal body temperature. It is also possible that damaged cells repair themselves quicker in fever conditions due to the increased metabolic rate. Recovery from illness then comes easier and quicker.
The inner temperature rise also affects the function of important endocrine glands, the pituitary in particular. Located in the bottom center of the brain, the pituitary is known as the master gland because its hormones regulate both metabolism and the activity of other glands such as the thyroid, adrenal, ovaries and testes. Urged by the heat, the pituitary accelerates the body's metabolism and affects the interplay of several of the body's hormones. Some people have gone as far to say that sex drive is increased and growth stimulated in the sauna bath.
The oxygen needs of the body increase by about 2O percent so the lungs, another important eliminator of body wastes, join in the body's quickened pace. Clogged respiratory passages are opened by heat, giving relief from colds and other minor respiratory problems. Sweat bathing is not recommended for those suffering from pneumonia or other acute respiratory diseases.
When the bocly is slowly cooled, the effects of heat are reversed--the heart calms, sweat pores close, dilated blood vessels contract and body temperature returns to normal. On the other hand, abrupt cooling brought on by a plunge into snow or icy water creates a more dramatic effect. For this reason, people with weak constitutions should avoid rapid cooling. Vessels near the skin's surface contract, but since the skin's metabolism returns to normal slower than the circulatory system, wastes accumulate that are normally washed out by the blood. Local vasodilators are then stimulated and blood rushes back to the skin's surface. The heart continues to beat vigorously and you may experience psychedelic flashes bouncing across your retina from the increased adrenal activity--an unforgettable experience! Goose bumps sometimes appear, a phenomenon reminiscent of the time when our prehistoric ancestors possessed a shaggy pelt of hair. Goose bumps extended the hair, making it thicker and giving more insulating power against cold or protection from attack. The swift transition from hot to cold stimulates the kidneys and usually creates the desire to urinate.
The typical body is 6O% water by weight and any pounds lost at this point will be promptly regained. As you can imagine, the combination of sweat bathing and cooling conditions the body, and a well-tuned body is more resistant to colds, disease and infection. In cold weather, the warm glowing feeling lingers for hours, while in hot climates the body seems cooler than before the sweat bath.
Fun fact - Skin
Because it eliminates, the skin is sometimes called the "third kidney." It is far more complex than the kidney or any other organ except the brain. It is composed of blood vessels, nerve endings, vessels for carrying Lymph, pigmentation, oil glands, hair follicles, cells that are waterproof and deny entry of bacteria and, of course, the tubular, coiled sweat glands. It is so important that death by accumulated poisons occurs in a matter of hours if the skin, and its sweat passages, is smothered.
A Finnish doctor wrote: "The best-dressed of foreigners can come into a doctor's office, and when his skin is examined, it is found to be rough as bark. On the other hand, as a result of the sauna, the skin of any Finnish worker is supple and healthy." Properly cared for skin is better able to resist eczema, athlete's foot, pimples and blackheads.
Furthermore, combining sweat bathing and brushing with a loofa or rough brush removes flakes of dried skin cells that accumulate on the epidermis. If allowed to remain, they can clog sweat pores and oil passages and result in dry, flaky skin.
In conjunction with the sweat bath exercise, supplemental dosages of vitamins B2 and E help keep skin fresh. Cayenne pepper, ginger, peppermint are notable herbs which, when taken internally, promote sweating and healthy skin.
(An interesting note: the ability of lizards and snakes to shed old skins has fascinated many primitive societies. Some believe that if they could shed their old skins and acquire new ones, they could renew their youth. During some ceremonies, participants don the skins of animals or other human beings in a symbolic gesture of eternal youth.)
A Finnish doctor wrote: "The best-dressed of foreigners can come into a doctor's office, and when his skin is examined, it is found to be rough as bark. On the other hand, as a result of the sauna, the skin of any Finnish worker is supple and healthy." Properly cared for skin is better able to resist eczema, athlete's foot, pimples and blackheads.
Furthermore, combining sweat bathing and brushing with a loofa or rough brush removes flakes of dried skin cells that accumulate on the epidermis. If allowed to remain, they can clog sweat pores and oil passages and result in dry, flaky skin.
In conjunction with the sweat bath exercise, supplemental dosages of vitamins B2 and E help keep skin fresh. Cayenne pepper, ginger, peppermint are notable herbs which, when taken internally, promote sweating and healthy skin.
(An interesting note: the ability of lizards and snakes to shed old skins has fascinated many primitive societies. Some believe that if they could shed their old skins and acquire new ones, they could renew their youth. During some ceremonies, participants don the skins of animals or other human beings in a symbolic gesture of eternal youth.)
Fun fact - Sweat
Sweating is as essential to our health as eating and breathing. It accomplishes three important things: get rid of wastes in the body, regulates the critical temperature of the body at 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees F), and helps keep the skin clean and pliant.
Many people, in this sedentary age, simply don't sweat enough, making sweat bathing particularly desirable. Antiperspirants, artificial environments, smog, synthetic clothing, and a physically idle lifestyle all conspire to clog skin pores and inhibit the healthy flow of sweat.
[The length of time spent in the sauna differs from time spent in other types of sweat baths. In this section, results peculiar to the sauna are noted.]
When you lounge in a sweat bath, heat sensitive nerve endings produce acetylcholine, a chemical which alerts the 2.3 million sweat glands embedded in the skin. But not all of them respond. The apocrine sweat glands, located in the pubic and arm pit areas, are activated only by emotional stimuli. They carry a faint scent whose purpose is believed to arouse the sex drive.
Nevertheless, the eccrine sweat glands, by far the most abundant, respond to heat. During a 15-minute sauna, about one liter of sweat is excreted, depending upon the individual. (Normal daily rate ranges from .5 to 1.5 liters.) Eccrine sweat is clear and odorless; any odor is only created by the presence of bacteria. One of its chief functions is to cool the body by evaporation, although there are also eccrine glands on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet which react to emotional stimuli. It is believed that these sweat glands were intended to provide us with a good grip on clubs, rocks or vines when our survival often depended upon them. Sweat glands on the feet provided greater traction when it came time to run.
Another kind of sweat, called insensible perspiration, originates inside and works its way through blood and other cells to the surface of the skin. Even without a sweat bath, approximately a liter of insensible perspiration evaporates each day.
A modified type of sweat gland is the milk-producing mammary gland. Some mothers in Finland believe the sauna encourages the breast's ability to produce milk, although this hasn't been established scientifically.
Sweat also has the function of being a judicious garbage collector. During a 15-minute sauna, sweating can perform the heavy metal excretion that would take the kidneys 24 working hours. 99% of what sweat brings to the surface of the skin is water, but the remaining one percent is mostly undesirable wastes. Excessive salt carried by sweat is generally believed to be beneficial for cases of mild hypertension. Some mental hospitals use saunas in their rehabilitation programs to pacify patients.
A metabolic by-product, urea, if not disposed of regularly, can cause headaches, nausea and, in extreme cases, vomiting, coma and even death. Sweating is such an effective de-toxifier that some physicians recommend home saunas to supplement kidney machines. Sweat also draws out lactic acid which causes stiff muscles and contributes to general fatigue. Sweat flushes out toxic metals such as copper, lead, zinc and mercury which the body absorbs in polluted environments.
Many people, in this sedentary age, simply don't sweat enough, making sweat bathing particularly desirable. Antiperspirants, artificial environments, smog, synthetic clothing, and a physically idle lifestyle all conspire to clog skin pores and inhibit the healthy flow of sweat.
[The length of time spent in the sauna differs from time spent in other types of sweat baths. In this section, results peculiar to the sauna are noted.]
When you lounge in a sweat bath, heat sensitive nerve endings produce acetylcholine, a chemical which alerts the 2.3 million sweat glands embedded in the skin. But not all of them respond. The apocrine sweat glands, located in the pubic and arm pit areas, are activated only by emotional stimuli. They carry a faint scent whose purpose is believed to arouse the sex drive.
Nevertheless, the eccrine sweat glands, by far the most abundant, respond to heat. During a 15-minute sauna, about one liter of sweat is excreted, depending upon the individual. (Normal daily rate ranges from .5 to 1.5 liters.) Eccrine sweat is clear and odorless; any odor is only created by the presence of bacteria. One of its chief functions is to cool the body by evaporation, although there are also eccrine glands on the palms of your hands and soles of your feet which react to emotional stimuli. It is believed that these sweat glands were intended to provide us with a good grip on clubs, rocks or vines when our survival often depended upon them. Sweat glands on the feet provided greater traction when it came time to run.
Another kind of sweat, called insensible perspiration, originates inside and works its way through blood and other cells to the surface of the skin. Even without a sweat bath, approximately a liter of insensible perspiration evaporates each day.
A modified type of sweat gland is the milk-producing mammary gland. Some mothers in Finland believe the sauna encourages the breast's ability to produce milk, although this hasn't been established scientifically.
Sweat also has the function of being a judicious garbage collector. During a 15-minute sauna, sweating can perform the heavy metal excretion that would take the kidneys 24 working hours. 99% of what sweat brings to the surface of the skin is water, but the remaining one percent is mostly undesirable wastes. Excessive salt carried by sweat is generally believed to be beneficial for cases of mild hypertension. Some mental hospitals use saunas in their rehabilitation programs to pacify patients.
A metabolic by-product, urea, if not disposed of regularly, can cause headaches, nausea and, in extreme cases, vomiting, coma and even death. Sweating is such an effective de-toxifier that some physicians recommend home saunas to supplement kidney machines. Sweat also draws out lactic acid which causes stiff muscles and contributes to general fatigue. Sweat flushes out toxic metals such as copper, lead, zinc and mercury which the body absorbs in polluted environments.
Did you know? ...
Sitting in a sweat bath could be the most vigorous activity you've had all day. The heat produces an artificial "fever" and urges every organ of the body into action. While outwardly relaxed, your inner organs are as active as though you were jogging or mowing the lawn. At the same time, you are being cleansed from inside out by the skin, your body's largest organ and its excretion, sweat.
The oldest know medical document, the Ayurveda, appeared in Sanskrit in 568 BC and considered sweating so important to health that it prescribed the sweat bath and thirteen other methods of inducing sweat. Throughout history physicians have extolled the medicinal value of the sweat bath in its various forms such as the Finnish sauna, Russian banai, Islamic hammam, or the American Indian sweatlodge. Today, enthusiasts claim that beyond being relaxing the sauna gives relief from the common cold, arthritis, headaches, hangovers and "just about anything that ails you." Even if these claims are somewhat exaggerated, medical evidence shows that bathing in temperatures of 9O degrees C (192 degrees F) has a profoundly beneficial effect on a healthy body.
The oldest know medical document, the Ayurveda, appeared in Sanskrit in 568 BC and considered sweating so important to health that it prescribed the sweat bath and thirteen other methods of inducing sweat. Throughout history physicians have extolled the medicinal value of the sweat bath in its various forms such as the Finnish sauna, Russian banai, Islamic hammam, or the American Indian sweatlodge. Today, enthusiasts claim that beyond being relaxing the sauna gives relief from the common cold, arthritis, headaches, hangovers and "just about anything that ails you." Even if these claims are somewhat exaggerated, medical evidence shows that bathing in temperatures of 9O degrees C (192 degrees F) has a profoundly beneficial effect on a healthy body.
Tips to get the most out of your Sauna Experience
- Avoid staying inside any sauna for longer than 30 minutes.
- Be sure to properly hydrate with fresh, pure water before and after taking a sauna and if you are sweating profusely, you will want to consider replacing your electrolytes with something like Himalayan salt.
- Take the sauna with a family member or close friend, or make sure someone checks on you every so often.
- If you have any kind of ailment or are sensitive to heat, check with your healthcare professional prior to partaking.
- Far-infrared emitters do not work through clothing. So, disrobe as much as possible to optimize the heating and sweating effects.
- Work up to regular use over time. You don't have to take a 20 minute sauna from the get-go. Start slowly to build up an acceptable comfort level.
- Try to remain relaxed, quiet, and reflect on positive emotions. Listening to some soothing background music may help you unwind and relax.
- When finished, take a shower, warm or cool, but not hot. Avoid using soap as you're already clean and soap tends to clog your pores. Wash off your sweat with a skin brush or loofa.
- After showering, sit or lie down for at least 10 minutes for final reflections on your sauna experience.
The top 10 Precautions when using a sauna
- Anyone under the influence of drugs or alcohol should stay clear from the Sauna. Alcohol dehydrates the body and using the Sauna would dehydrate even more. Also you are not using your best judgment when under the influence.
- Persons with low blood pressure or heart disease should exercise caution. The heat of the Sauna causes the capillaries in the skin to dilate, which in effect lowers blood pressure. Heartbeat increases to keep blood pressure normal. Use caution and pay attention to how you feel before and after a Sauna.
- Children should be supervised in the Sauna. Children in Finland start enjoying the Sauna at a very young age. It is best to start a child at a lower temperature or have them sit on the lower bench where it is cooler.
- Sauna is a wonderful and relaxing experience of cleansing the body and can be enjoyed by most people. Again, it is best to check with a physician if you have any medical conditions or feel any adverse effects. Most of all, the Sauna is a matter of common sense. Your body will let you know when it is time to exit the Sauna if you get too hot. Remember to drink plenty of water or other fluids after the Sauna to replace what you have lost.
- Remove jewelry and glasses before entering the sauna. Metal will get burning hot, and heat causes capillaries and skin to swell making rings and tight bracelets constricting. Contact lenses may dry and provoke eye irritation–pop them out before sweat bathing.
- Eating before sweat bathing puts a strain on the circulatory system. If one had a heavy meal, do not have a sauna session for at least 4 hours.
- As before swimming, wait an hour or two after a large meal before entering a sweat bath. Also, it is best not to bathe on an empty stomach. Sauna session, like any exercise, uses energy and some people in a depleted condition may experience nausea or even fainting. Settle for lower temperatures and shorter bathing sessions. It is also sensible to avoid sweat bathing when you are physically exhausted or after a long illness. Mental exhaustion is not included in this caution. Finnish students traditionally recuperate in the sauna after the year's final exam.
- Do NOT use the sauna if you are undergoing medical attention, without the prior consent of your doctor.
- Do NOT use the sauna if you are pregnant, suffering from a heart disorder, have abnormal blood pressure or circulatory problems, are a diabetic, suffer from excess fluid retention, have a skin disorder that may be aggravated by heat or humidity, are suffering from a skin infection, have an open wound or have a respiratory disorder {e.g. cough, cold or flu}, unless otherwise advised by your doctor.
- Do NOT stay in the sauna for more than 10 minutes. If you wish to return to the sauna, allow a suitable rest period of at least 5 minutes. Total time in the sauna should not exceed 25 minutes – 10 minutes in the sauna, 5 minutes rest, 10 minutes in the sauna.
How to use a sauna
1. In general, you need 2 hours, 2 large towels (1 to dry yourself, 1 to lie down on), bathing shoes and soap.
2. Always take a shower before using the sauna - for hygienic reasons and to remove the greasy film on your skin, which delays the sweating process.
3. You have to be dry when going into the sauna (wet skin prevents sweating).
4. It’s recommended to prepare yourself for the heat with a warming foot bath (3-5 minutes).
5. Please be quiet inside the sauna.
6. Please always sit or lie on a large enough towel (so that there is enough room for your feet).
7. In case you lie down in the sauna, you should sit up straight for the last 2 minutes and play with your legs to enhance your blood circulation so that the blood doesn’t drop down in the lower body and cause vertigo.
8. Don’t force yourself to stay. As soon as you feel unwell, leave the sauna immediately. Your health is always the most important thing.
A sauna bath takes between 8 and 12 minutes, 15 minutes maximum. After that time you should leave the sauna.
9. After the sauna, go into the fresh air for app. 2 minutes to fill up on oxygen and to cool your lungs.
10. Always take a shower after a sauna round and before using the cold water bath.
11. To achieve an effect for your health, the cooling process through fresh air and cold water should be strong enough.
12. After cooling down, it would be good to take a warming foot bath. At the same time, the rest of the warmth inside the body is dissipated and therefore causes the body to cool down. Additionally, this prevents a cold. A warming foot bath in ankle-high water keeps the body from sweating afterwards.
13. You can use the different relaxing areas for a rest.
14. Altogether, you should not take more than 3 sauna baths.
2. Always take a shower before using the sauna - for hygienic reasons and to remove the greasy film on your skin, which delays the sweating process.
3. You have to be dry when going into the sauna (wet skin prevents sweating).
4. It’s recommended to prepare yourself for the heat with a warming foot bath (3-5 minutes).
5. Please be quiet inside the sauna.
6. Please always sit or lie on a large enough towel (so that there is enough room for your feet).
7. In case you lie down in the sauna, you should sit up straight for the last 2 minutes and play with your legs to enhance your blood circulation so that the blood doesn’t drop down in the lower body and cause vertigo.
8. Don’t force yourself to stay. As soon as you feel unwell, leave the sauna immediately. Your health is always the most important thing.
A sauna bath takes between 8 and 12 minutes, 15 minutes maximum. After that time you should leave the sauna.
9. After the sauna, go into the fresh air for app. 2 minutes to fill up on oxygen and to cool your lungs.
10. Always take a shower after a sauna round and before using the cold water bath.
11. To achieve an effect for your health, the cooling process through fresh air and cold water should be strong enough.
12. After cooling down, it would be good to take a warming foot bath. At the same time, the rest of the warmth inside the body is dissipated and therefore causes the body to cool down. Additionally, this prevents a cold. A warming foot bath in ankle-high water keeps the body from sweating afterwards.
13. You can use the different relaxing areas for a rest.
14. Altogether, you should not take more than 3 sauna baths.
Korean Jjimjilbang
Jjimjilbang usually operate 24 hours a day. In front of the entrance, there are the doors titled “men” or “women” and shoes are to be stored using a given key. Once inside, the shoe locker key is to be exchanged with another locker key to store clothes and belongings. Afterwards bathers walk into the gender-segregated bathhouse area and take a shower. Then, it is supposed to be dressed in jjimjilbang clothes (usually a T-shirt and shorts) received with the locker key.
In a bathing area, there are different kind of kiln saunas with a varying themes including a jade kiln, a salt kiln, a mineral kiln: the dome-shaped inside walls of klin rooms are plastered with jade powder, salt and mineral respectively. and a series of kiln with different temperatures ranging from 60 to 100 degrees Celsius. The temperature sign outside the kiln is given before the entrance.
Hygiene
Jjimjilbangs are always kept in a very sanitary condition for the overall health of patrons, and most are cleaned continuously. No harsh chemicals are used in the waters or saunas.
All wet areas prohibit the use of clothing for safety reasons. With the extreme heat of the baths and steam rooms, it is believed that toxic chemicals can leach out of apparel and into the body. It is also believed that if you wear a swimsuit or cover up you may be trying to hide a disease.
Gangnam
Boseokbang (Jewelry Room)
Decorated with precious stones, the Boseokbang is a favorite among women. The special stones have a cleansing effect for the skin and absorb the body’s bad energy.
Sogeumbang (Salt Room)
Heated to a temperature of over 69 degrees Celsius, the room is very hot but helps people discharge bad substances or viruses from the body through sweat.
Hannyakbang (Oriental Herb Room)
Equipped with antique furniture and Oriental herb pouches, the room is particularly popular among foreign visitors who like to take pictures there.
Eoreumbang (Ice Room)
This is the coldest room in Seocho Spa. One can cool down one’s body temperature through cold air, eliminate wrinkles, and firm the skin.
Myeongdong
Jagal Jjimjilbang (Pebble Room)
You can lie down or sit on a mat covering heated pebbles. This helps discharge body wastes, reduce muscle pain, and enhance blood circulation.
Ok Hanjeungmak (Jade Sweating Room)
Made of jade, a precious stone with a transparent blue color, the Ok Hanjeungmak is particularly popular among women. It is good for warming the bodies of those with cold hands and feet.
Hwangto Bulgama (Yellow Earth Room)
Far infrared rays discharged from yellow earth that is heated to a temperature of over 60 degrees Celsius is said to be beneficial for relieving fatigue. So if you are stressed out or feel tired, this is the room to go to.
Sanso Togulbang (Oxygen Cave)
The room has walls made of yellow earth bricks and floor covered with jade and is lit with an infrared ray lamp. You can actually sleep in this room, which is separated for men and women. You will feel much more invigorated after sleeping here.
Chamsut Naengbang (Charcoal Cold Room)
Unlike the heat of other rooms, the coolness of the charcoal room is particularly good for stabilizing the mind, relieving stress, and fighting fatigue.
In a bathing area, there are different kind of kiln saunas with a varying themes including a jade kiln, a salt kiln, a mineral kiln: the dome-shaped inside walls of klin rooms are plastered with jade powder, salt and mineral respectively. and a series of kiln with different temperatures ranging from 60 to 100 degrees Celsius. The temperature sign outside the kiln is given before the entrance.
Hygiene
Jjimjilbangs are always kept in a very sanitary condition for the overall health of patrons, and most are cleaned continuously. No harsh chemicals are used in the waters or saunas.
All wet areas prohibit the use of clothing for safety reasons. With the extreme heat of the baths and steam rooms, it is believed that toxic chemicals can leach out of apparel and into the body. It is also believed that if you wear a swimsuit or cover up you may be trying to hide a disease.
Gangnam
Boseokbang (Jewelry Room)
Decorated with precious stones, the Boseokbang is a favorite among women. The special stones have a cleansing effect for the skin and absorb the body’s bad energy.
Sogeumbang (Salt Room)
Heated to a temperature of over 69 degrees Celsius, the room is very hot but helps people discharge bad substances or viruses from the body through sweat.
Hannyakbang (Oriental Herb Room)
Equipped with antique furniture and Oriental herb pouches, the room is particularly popular among foreign visitors who like to take pictures there.
Eoreumbang (Ice Room)
This is the coldest room in Seocho Spa. One can cool down one’s body temperature through cold air, eliminate wrinkles, and firm the skin.
Myeongdong
Jagal Jjimjilbang (Pebble Room)
You can lie down or sit on a mat covering heated pebbles. This helps discharge body wastes, reduce muscle pain, and enhance blood circulation.
Ok Hanjeungmak (Jade Sweating Room)
Made of jade, a precious stone with a transparent blue color, the Ok Hanjeungmak is particularly popular among women. It is good for warming the bodies of those with cold hands and feet.
Hwangto Bulgama (Yellow Earth Room)
Far infrared rays discharged from yellow earth that is heated to a temperature of over 60 degrees Celsius is said to be beneficial for relieving fatigue. So if you are stressed out or feel tired, this is the room to go to.
Sanso Togulbang (Oxygen Cave)
The room has walls made of yellow earth bricks and floor covered with jade and is lit with an infrared ray lamp. You can actually sleep in this room, which is separated for men and women. You will feel much more invigorated after sleeping here.
Chamsut Naengbang (Charcoal Cold Room)
Unlike the heat of other rooms, the coolness of the charcoal room is particularly good for stabilizing the mind, relieving stress, and fighting fatigue.
Infrared Sauna
An infrared sauna uses infrared heaters to emit infrared light experienced as radiant heat which is absorbed by the surface of the skin. Traditional saunas heat the body primary by conduction and convection from the heated air and by radiation of the heated surfaces in the sauna room.
Infrared sauna makes the same rays that come from the sun and filters out the UV radiation, so it only gives you the infrared radiation. That radiation that's infrared goes a little bit into your skin so, without heating you up and the external environment too much, it heats the body up.
High temperature helps lower blood pressure and increase blood circulation. "It gets your heart to beat faster, and it burns calories," Dr. Oz says. "It raises your metabolism a little bit, and also when you sweat, you sweat out toxins through the skin."
Quoted from Dr. Oz
Arthritis
A study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a reduction in pain, stiffness and fatigue during infrared sauna therapy, but since results from the study "did not reach statistical significance" there is no clear or certain relationship between reducing symptoms and using infrared sauna therapy.
Toxins
"Toxins" and "toxicity" are general terms used by alternative health professionals and some doctors to cover a wide range of substances from petrochemicals to heavy metals, which are excreted in very small quantities while sweating, less than 1%. Proponents of FIR sweating claim a toxin content of up to 15% vs. conventional sweating. Saunas may be useful to those who cannot sweat from exercise due to their health problems.
Heat tolerance
Only if the sauna uses far-infrared technology, the sauna might be more tolerated by patients who don't tolerate the high temperatures of the standard humid hot air saunas. This is because far-infrared rays do not heat the air inside the sauna, but instead they heat the body.
Benefits
Detoxification
Sweating is the body’s safe and natural way to heal & stay healthy. Far infrared sauna benefits the body by heating it directly causing a rise in core temperature resulting in a deep, detoxifying sweat at the cellular level, where toxins reside.
Relaxation
Unlike traditional saunas which operate at extremely harsh temperatures, infrared is a gentle, soothing and therapeutic heat that promotes relaxation and improved sleep. Infrared sauna benefits include therapy that helps you relax while receiving an invigorating deep tissue sweat, leaving you fully refreshed after each session.
Lower Blood Pressure
Infrared saunas induce a deep sweat to make the heart pump faster, which in turn increases blood flow, lowers blood pressure and helps circulation. Scientific evidence shows the infrared sauna benefits user using an infrared sauna a couple times a week lowers blood pressure.
Anti-Aging & Skin Purification
The near infrared wavelength (sometimes referred to as Red Light Therapy) is the most effective wavelength for healing the epidermis and dermis layers of the skin. Near infrared treatments stimulate collagen production to reduce wrinkles and improve overall skin tone.
Cell Health
Near infrared therapy stimulates the circulatory system and more fully oxygenate the body’s cells. Better blood circulation means more toxins flow from the cellular level to the skin’s surface to improve cell health, aid in muscle recovery and strengthen the immune system.
Weight Loss
Studies have shown that benefits of an infrared sauna session can burn upwards of 600 calories while you relax! As the body works to cool itself, there is a substantial increase in heart rate, cardiac output and metabolic rate, causing the body to burn more calories.
Pain Relief
Infrared heat penetrates tissue, joints, and muscles to relieve anything from minor aches and pains to chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia. Pain management professionals incorporate infrared heat therapy into treatment plans to decrease pain and muscle spasms and to speed up recovery time.
Improved Circulation
Heating the muscles with infrared rays produces an increase in blood flow similar to that seen during exercise. Regular infrared sauna use—especially in the mid infrared range—can significantly stimulate blood flow up to twice the normal rate.
Wound Healing
Scientific research has concluded that near infrared therapy greatly enhances the skin’s healing process by promoting faster cell regeneration and human tissue growth. Human cell growth increases to repair wounds and prevent infection.
Skin Cleansing
Sweating helps rinse and cleanse your skin’s epidermal layer and sweat ducts. Cleansing of your pores gives your skin a soft, beautiful appearance.
Better sleep
May help you relax, which may help you fall asleep around bedtime which restores the body and soul.
Infrared sauna makes the same rays that come from the sun and filters out the UV radiation, so it only gives you the infrared radiation. That radiation that's infrared goes a little bit into your skin so, without heating you up and the external environment too much, it heats the body up.
High temperature helps lower blood pressure and increase blood circulation. "It gets your heart to beat faster, and it burns calories," Dr. Oz says. "It raises your metabolism a little bit, and also when you sweat, you sweat out toxins through the skin."
Quoted from Dr. Oz
Arthritis
A study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis showed a reduction in pain, stiffness and fatigue during infrared sauna therapy, but since results from the study "did not reach statistical significance" there is no clear or certain relationship between reducing symptoms and using infrared sauna therapy.
Toxins
"Toxins" and "toxicity" are general terms used by alternative health professionals and some doctors to cover a wide range of substances from petrochemicals to heavy metals, which are excreted in very small quantities while sweating, less than 1%. Proponents of FIR sweating claim a toxin content of up to 15% vs. conventional sweating. Saunas may be useful to those who cannot sweat from exercise due to their health problems.
Heat tolerance
Only if the sauna uses far-infrared technology, the sauna might be more tolerated by patients who don't tolerate the high temperatures of the standard humid hot air saunas. This is because far-infrared rays do not heat the air inside the sauna, but instead they heat the body.
Benefits
Detoxification
Sweating is the body’s safe and natural way to heal & stay healthy. Far infrared sauna benefits the body by heating it directly causing a rise in core temperature resulting in a deep, detoxifying sweat at the cellular level, where toxins reside.
Relaxation
Unlike traditional saunas which operate at extremely harsh temperatures, infrared is a gentle, soothing and therapeutic heat that promotes relaxation and improved sleep. Infrared sauna benefits include therapy that helps you relax while receiving an invigorating deep tissue sweat, leaving you fully refreshed after each session.
Lower Blood Pressure
Infrared saunas induce a deep sweat to make the heart pump faster, which in turn increases blood flow, lowers blood pressure and helps circulation. Scientific evidence shows the infrared sauna benefits user using an infrared sauna a couple times a week lowers blood pressure.
Anti-Aging & Skin Purification
The near infrared wavelength (sometimes referred to as Red Light Therapy) is the most effective wavelength for healing the epidermis and dermis layers of the skin. Near infrared treatments stimulate collagen production to reduce wrinkles and improve overall skin tone.
Cell Health
Near infrared therapy stimulates the circulatory system and more fully oxygenate the body’s cells. Better blood circulation means more toxins flow from the cellular level to the skin’s surface to improve cell health, aid in muscle recovery and strengthen the immune system.
Weight Loss
Studies have shown that benefits of an infrared sauna session can burn upwards of 600 calories while you relax! As the body works to cool itself, there is a substantial increase in heart rate, cardiac output and metabolic rate, causing the body to burn more calories.
Pain Relief
Infrared heat penetrates tissue, joints, and muscles to relieve anything from minor aches and pains to chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia. Pain management professionals incorporate infrared heat therapy into treatment plans to decrease pain and muscle spasms and to speed up recovery time.
Improved Circulation
Heating the muscles with infrared rays produces an increase in blood flow similar to that seen during exercise. Regular infrared sauna use—especially in the mid infrared range—can significantly stimulate blood flow up to twice the normal rate.
Wound Healing
Scientific research has concluded that near infrared therapy greatly enhances the skin’s healing process by promoting faster cell regeneration and human tissue growth. Human cell growth increases to repair wounds and prevent infection.
Skin Cleansing
Sweating helps rinse and cleanse your skin’s epidermal layer and sweat ducts. Cleansing of your pores gives your skin a soft, beautiful appearance.
Better sleep
May help you relax, which may help you fall asleep around bedtime which restores the body and soul.
Steam Sauna
Steam rooms create very good respiratory conditions with the humidity level at 100%. People with coughs and lung problems sometimes use a steam room to soothe their respiratory systems. Steam rooms are also more hydrating for your skin than saunas. This is great for people with dry skin, who might suffer in a dry sauna.
Some people find steam rooms stifling though and think that the humid air is difficult to breathe. Steam rooms have a mystic quality, with the air shrouded in steam, while saunas are clean and clear enough so that you could read a book if you wanted. If you have greasy skin you might find that a dry sauna is better, because your pores may get blocked by moisture if you stay in the steam room too long.
Steam Sauna increase circulation to the surface of the skin and make you sweat, which can be a pleasant sensation and has proven benefits for cardiovascular health. It can also promote a healthy and deep sleep.
Some other benefits include: - clearing of throat, sinus and lung congestion, relief of dry throat and nasal passages and relief from the discomfort of sinusitis.
Some people find steam rooms stifling though and think that the humid air is difficult to breathe. Steam rooms have a mystic quality, with the air shrouded in steam, while saunas are clean and clear enough so that you could read a book if you wanted. If you have greasy skin you might find that a dry sauna is better, because your pores may get blocked by moisture if you stay in the steam room too long.
Steam Sauna increase circulation to the surface of the skin and make you sweat, which can be a pleasant sensation and has proven benefits for cardiovascular health. It can also promote a healthy and deep sleep.
Some other benefits include: - clearing of throat, sinus and lung congestion, relief of dry throat and nasal passages and relief from the discomfort of sinusitis.
Salt Sauna
Salt Sauna: Vitamins of the Air
The salt sauna is particularly healing for respiratory and skin conditions.
Salt is a disinfectant that kills almost every virus, fungus or bacterium. If you inhale salty air, the respiratory system is purified of the contagious bodies that may cause illness or generate other diseases. Salty air also helps in improving the physical, chemical and hydrodynamic conditions of the body, resulting in the improvement of peripheral blood circulation, the improvement of the body's resistance and defense mechanism (strengthening the immune system), the termination of certain rheumatic diseases, and the relaxation of the muscles.
Salt therapy works because natural salt has a considerable level of negative charge of its particles. The inner surfaces of human airways have a slight positive charge. Thus, negatively charged particles of the salt are allowed to move into the lumen of the respiratory tract. The heat in the salt sauna releases the negative ions captured within the pure salt blocks, carrying the ions deep into the lungs. In the lungs, tiny chambers (alveolus) fortify oxygen with the negative ions which are then absorbed by the bloodstream to deliver the cleansing and purifying effect to every organ of the body.
Salt rooms and salt saunas are primarily intended for use by patients with respiratory problems (bronchitis, tonsillitis, polypus, bronchial asthma, etc.). However, apparently healthy people are also always exposed to urban diseases like infection by microbes, viruses, air pollution or tobacco poisoning. Some medicines have side effects, but nature never "tricked" anyone. Salt rooms and salt saunas are an effective treatment for diseases like chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthmatic bronchitis (allergic or infectious), post-rachitic breathing problems or problems with the thoracic cavity, pleurisy, and traces of tuberculosis operation.
Specific effects of salt therapy are:
• Mucolytic (assists in the elimination of excess mucus)
• Antibacteriologic
• Anti-inflammatory
• Immunomodulation (regulates the immune system)
Salt room treatment is recommended for asthmatic diseases, asthmatic bronchitis, chronic bronchitis, allergic breathing, emphysema, hard breathing and bacterial infections.
Treatment: one course lasts 8 - 21 days, depending on the disease.
Treatment takes place in aerosol form.
One treatment lasts 30 minutes to 3-4 hours.
The lung's purification starts 10-14 days after the beginning of the treatment.
The salt sauna is particularly healing for respiratory and skin conditions.
Salt is a disinfectant that kills almost every virus, fungus or bacterium. If you inhale salty air, the respiratory system is purified of the contagious bodies that may cause illness or generate other diseases. Salty air also helps in improving the physical, chemical and hydrodynamic conditions of the body, resulting in the improvement of peripheral blood circulation, the improvement of the body's resistance and defense mechanism (strengthening the immune system), the termination of certain rheumatic diseases, and the relaxation of the muscles.
Salt therapy works because natural salt has a considerable level of negative charge of its particles. The inner surfaces of human airways have a slight positive charge. Thus, negatively charged particles of the salt are allowed to move into the lumen of the respiratory tract. The heat in the salt sauna releases the negative ions captured within the pure salt blocks, carrying the ions deep into the lungs. In the lungs, tiny chambers (alveolus) fortify oxygen with the negative ions which are then absorbed by the bloodstream to deliver the cleansing and purifying effect to every organ of the body.
Salt rooms and salt saunas are primarily intended for use by patients with respiratory problems (bronchitis, tonsillitis, polypus, bronchial asthma, etc.). However, apparently healthy people are also always exposed to urban diseases like infection by microbes, viruses, air pollution or tobacco poisoning. Some medicines have side effects, but nature never "tricked" anyone. Salt rooms and salt saunas are an effective treatment for diseases like chronic bronchitis, emphysema, asthmatic bronchitis (allergic or infectious), post-rachitic breathing problems or problems with the thoracic cavity, pleurisy, and traces of tuberculosis operation.
Specific effects of salt therapy are:
• Mucolytic (assists in the elimination of excess mucus)
• Antibacteriologic
• Anti-inflammatory
• Immunomodulation (regulates the immune system)
Salt room treatment is recommended for asthmatic diseases, asthmatic bronchitis, chronic bronchitis, allergic breathing, emphysema, hard breathing and bacterial infections.
Treatment: one course lasts 8 - 21 days, depending on the disease.
Treatment takes place in aerosol form.
One treatment lasts 30 minutes to 3-4 hours.
The lung's purification starts 10-14 days after the beginning of the treatment.
Electric stove sauna
The most common modern sauna types are those with electric stoves. The stones are heated up and kept on temperature using electric heating elements. There is thermostat and a timer (eight hour maximum continuous heating time) on the stove. This type of heating is used in urban saunas.
Wood stove sauna
The wood stove sauna is the most common type of sauna outside of the city areas, where the electric sauna is more common. The metal stove with stones on top (kiuas) is heated with birch wood fire, and this heats the sauna room to the required temperature. If birch wood is not available any other wood will do, but well dried birch wood is preferred because of its good quality and smell, and long lasting burn. The important thing is to have a good löyly, that is when the stones are hot enough to evaporate the water thrown on them into steam that rises to the bathers. The bather in every type of sauna sits on a high bench near the ceiling where the hot steam reaches them quickly.
Continuous fire sauna
A continuous fire stove, instead of stored heat, is a relatively recent invention. There is a firebox, a smokestack and stones placed in a compartment directly above the firebox. It takes one hour, to heat up the sauna, which is less time-consuming than the heat storage-sauna. A fire-heated sauna requires manual labor in the form of maintaining the fire during bathing; the fire can also be seen as a hazard.
Fire-heated saunas are common in cottages, where the extra work of maintaining the fire is not a problem.
Fire-heated saunas are common in cottages, where the extra work of maintaining the fire is not a problem.
Heat storage-sauna
The smoke-sauna stove is also used with a sealed stone compartment and chimney (a heat storage-stove) which eliminates the smoke odor and eye irritation of the smoke sauna. A heat storage stove does not give up much heat in the sauna before bathing since the stone compartment has an insulated lid. When the sauna bath starts and the shutter opens, warmth flows into relatively cold (60 °C [140 °F]) sauna. This heat is soft and clean because, thanks to combustion, the stove stones glow red, even white-hot, and are freed of dust at the same time. When bathing the heat-storage, the sauna will become as hot as a continuous fire type-sauna (80–110 °C [176-212 °F]) but more humid. The stones are usually durable heat proof and heat-retaining peridotite (a type of stone). The upper part of the stove is often insulated with rock wool and firebricks. Heat-storing stoves are also found with electric heating, with similar service but no need to maintain a fire.
Smoke sauna
Smoke sauna (Finnish savusauna, Estonian suitsusaun, Võro savvusann) is one of the earliest forms of the sauna. It is simply a room containing a pile of rocks, but without a chimney. A fire is lit directly under the rocks and after a while the fire is extinguished. The heat retained in the rocks, and the earlier fire, becomes the main source for heating the sauna. Following this process, the ashes and embers are removed from the hearth, the benches and floor are cleaned, and the room is allowed to air out and freshen for a period of time. The smoke deposits a layer of soot on every surface, so if the benches and back-rests can be removed while the fire is alight the amount of cleaning necessary is reduced. Depending on size of the stove and the airing time, the temperature may be low, about 60 °C, while the humidity is relatively high. The tradition almost died out, but was revived by enthusiasts in the 1980s.These are still used in present-day Finland by some enthusiasts, but usually only on special occasions such as Christmas, New Year's, Easter, and juhannus (Midsummer)
History: North America and Central America
In the United States, the earliest saunas were Swedish bastus in the colony New Sweden around the Delaware River. Today sauna culture enjoys its greatest popularity in the Lake Superior Region, specifically the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, especially the Keweenaw Peninsula, and parts of Minnesota,Wisconsin, and Iowa, which are home to large populations of Swedish and particularly Finnish Americans. Duluth, Minnesota, at its peak, had as many as 14 public saunas. Indeed, among Finnish farms in Great Lakes "sauna country", the cultural geographer Matti Kaups, found that 90% had sauna structures-more even than the farms in Finland. Elsewhere, sauna facilities are normally provided at health clubs and at hotels, but there is no tradition or ritual to their use, and many people fail to appreciate their benefits. To avoid liability, many saunas operate at only moderate temperatures and do not allow pouring water on the rocks. A wider range of sauna etiquette is usually acceptable in the United States compared to other countries, with the exception that most mixed-sex saunas usually require some clothing such as a bathing suit to be worn. These are uncommon, however, as most saunas are either small private rooms or in the changing rooms of health clubs or gyms.
There are few restrictions and their use is casual; bathers may enter and exit the sauna as they please, be it nude, with a towel, dripping wet in swimsuits or even in workout clothes (the latter being very unusual). Like many aspects of US culture, there are few prescribed conventions and the bather should remain astute to "read" the specific family or community's expectations. Besides the Finnish Americans, the older generation of Korean-Americans still uses the saunas as it is available to them.
The Sweat lodge, used by many native North Americans as a form of ritual cleansing, is a notable example of an indigenous tradition with many similarities to the Finnish Sauna, Russian Banya or Swedish Bastu. Often sage is used as a ritual aromatic in the ceremonies. Unlike many other sauna traditions, and most forcefully in the case of the Inipi, the sweat lodge ceremony has been robustly defended as an exclusively native expression of spirituality rather than a recreational activity.
In California, a variety of saunas can be found in urban centers, usually at spas or hot tub facilities. Usually these businesses rent medium or large sized rooms by the hour which contain a hot tub, an unenclosed shower, and/or a wet or dry sauna. Very often massage and other body and skin treatments are available at the same facilities, either by themselves or in the customer's private room. Businesses located in red-light districts often have prostitutes soliciting customers nearby.
The Korean-American communities in United States that have settled in urban cities such as Los Angeles county still use the sauna on a weekly basis. These businesses are common in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. Saunas in Koreatown are built much like their predecessors in Korea, although on a smaller scale. Some saunas offer rooms that have special facilities, i.e. salt rooms, jade rooms, clay fomentation room, charcoal rooms, and various steam rooms.
There are few restrictions and their use is casual; bathers may enter and exit the sauna as they please, be it nude, with a towel, dripping wet in swimsuits or even in workout clothes (the latter being very unusual). Like many aspects of US culture, there are few prescribed conventions and the bather should remain astute to "read" the specific family or community's expectations. Besides the Finnish Americans, the older generation of Korean-Americans still uses the saunas as it is available to them.
The Sweat lodge, used by many native North Americans as a form of ritual cleansing, is a notable example of an indigenous tradition with many similarities to the Finnish Sauna, Russian Banya or Swedish Bastu. Often sage is used as a ritual aromatic in the ceremonies. Unlike many other sauna traditions, and most forcefully in the case of the Inipi, the sweat lodge ceremony has been robustly defended as an exclusively native expression of spirituality rather than a recreational activity.
In California, a variety of saunas can be found in urban centers, usually at spas or hot tub facilities. Usually these businesses rent medium or large sized rooms by the hour which contain a hot tub, an unenclosed shower, and/or a wet or dry sauna. Very often massage and other body and skin treatments are available at the same facilities, either by themselves or in the customer's private room. Businesses located in red-light districts often have prostitutes soliciting customers nearby.
The Korean-American communities in United States that have settled in urban cities such as Los Angeles county still use the sauna on a weekly basis. These businesses are common in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. Saunas in Koreatown are built much like their predecessors in Korea, although on a smaller scale. Some saunas offer rooms that have special facilities, i.e. salt rooms, jade rooms, clay fomentation room, charcoal rooms, and various steam rooms.
History: The Nordics, the North Baltic States, Russia and Eastern Europe
In Sweden and Norway saunas are found in many places, and are known as 'bastu' (from 'badstuga' = bath house). In Sweden, saunas are common in almost every public swimming pool and gym. The Public saunas are generally single-sex and it's often optional to use swimwear. When men and women use the sauna together in Sweden swimwear is often used.
In Russia, public saunas are strictly single-sex, while in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, both types occur. During wintertime, Finns often run outdoors for either ice swimming or, in the absence of lake, just to roll around in the snow naked and then go back inside. This is popular in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia as well. Finnish sauna is traditionally the same as Russian banya despite the popular misconception that Finnish sauna is very dry.
In ex-USSR there are three different types of saunas. The first one, previously very popular especially during the Soviet Era, is the public sauna or the banya, (also known as the Russian banya), as it is referred to among the locals, is similar in context to public bath houses in Russia and in all ex-Soviet nations. The banya is a large setting with many different rooms. There is at least one sauna (Finnish style), one cold pool of water, a relaxation area, another sauna where fellow-sauna goers beat other fellow-sauna goers with the leafy birch, a shower area, a small cafeteria with a TV and drinks, and a large common area that leads to the other areas. In this large area, there are marble bed-like structures where people lie down and receive a massage either by another sauna-member or by a designated masseur. In the resting area, there are also other bed-like structures made of marble or stone attached to the ground where people lie down to rest between different rounds of sauna or at the very end of their banya session. There is also a large public locker area where one keeps one's clothes as well as two other more private locker areas with individual doors that can lock these two separate locker rooms.
The second type of sauna is the Finnish sauna type one can find in any gym throughout the world or a hotel. It could be in the locker room or mixed (i.e. male and female together). Attitudes towards nudity are very liberal and people are less self-conscious about their nude bodies.
The third type of sauna is one that is rented by a group of friends. It is similar to the public banya bath house type, except that it is usually more modern and luxurious, and is often rented by groups of friends by the hour for the use of partying and socializing. Here it can be single-sex or mixed-sex.
In Russia, public saunas are strictly single-sex, while in Finland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, both types occur. During wintertime, Finns often run outdoors for either ice swimming or, in the absence of lake, just to roll around in the snow naked and then go back inside. This is popular in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia as well. Finnish sauna is traditionally the same as Russian banya despite the popular misconception that Finnish sauna is very dry.
In ex-USSR there are three different types of saunas. The first one, previously very popular especially during the Soviet Era, is the public sauna or the banya, (also known as the Russian banya), as it is referred to among the locals, is similar in context to public bath houses in Russia and in all ex-Soviet nations. The banya is a large setting with many different rooms. There is at least one sauna (Finnish style), one cold pool of water, a relaxation area, another sauna where fellow-sauna goers beat other fellow-sauna goers with the leafy birch, a shower area, a small cafeteria with a TV and drinks, and a large common area that leads to the other areas. In this large area, there are marble bed-like structures where people lie down and receive a massage either by another sauna-member or by a designated masseur. In the resting area, there are also other bed-like structures made of marble or stone attached to the ground where people lie down to rest between different rounds of sauna or at the very end of their banya session. There is also a large public locker area where one keeps one's clothes as well as two other more private locker areas with individual doors that can lock these two separate locker rooms.
The second type of sauna is the Finnish sauna type one can find in any gym throughout the world or a hotel. It could be in the locker room or mixed (i.e. male and female together). Attitudes towards nudity are very liberal and people are less self-conscious about their nude bodies.
The third type of sauna is one that is rented by a group of friends. It is similar to the public banya bath house type, except that it is usually more modern and luxurious, and is often rented by groups of friends by the hour for the use of partying and socializing. Here it can be single-sex or mixed-sex.
History: Hungary
Hungarians see the sauna as part of a wider spa culture. Here too, attitudes are liberal, mixed-gender people are together and they wear swimsuits. Single-sex saunas are rare, as well as those which tolerate nudity. Some Hungarian saunas have the so-called "snow rooms" that look like a little cages with snow and icicles, where visitors can cool down for a couple of minutes after the each sauna session.
History: German-speaking countries
In Germany, Austria as well as South Tyrol where most public swimming pool complexes have sauna areas, nudity is the generally accepted rule, as is the covering of benches with towels. These rules are strictly enforced in some public saunas. Separate single-sex saunas for both genders are rare, most places offer women-only and mixed-gender saunas, or organise women-only days for the sauna once a week. Loud conversation is not usual as the sauna is seen as a place of healing rather than socialising. Contrary to Russia and Nordic countries, pouring water on hot stones to increase humidity is not normally done by the sauna visitors themselves - larger sauna areas have a person in charge (the Saunameister) for that, either an employee of the sauna complex or a volunteer.
Aufguss sessions can take up to 10 minutes, and take place according to a schedule. During an Aufguss session the Saunameister uses a large towel to circulate the hot air through the sauna, intensifying sweating and the perception of heat. Once the Aufguss session has started it is not considered good manners to enter the sauna, as opening the door would cause loss of heat (Sauna guests are expected to enter the sauna just in time before the Aufguss. Leaving the session is allowed, but grudgingly tolerated). Aufguss sessions are usually announced by a schedule on the sauna door. An Aufguss session in progress might be indicated by a light or sign hung above the sauna entrance. Cold showers or baths shortly after a sauna, as well as exposure to fresh air in a special balcony, garden or open-air room (Frischluftraum) are considered a must.
In German-speaking Switzerland, customs are generally the same as in Germany and Austria, although you tend to see more families (parents with their children) and young people. Also in respect to socialising in the sauna the Swiss tend more to be like the Finns, Scandinavians or Russians. Also in German-speaking countries, there are many facilities for washing after using the sauna, with 'dunking pools' (pools of very cold water in which a person dips themselves after using the sauna) or showers. In some saunas and steam rooms, scented salts are given out which can be rubbed into the skin for extra aroma and cleaning effects.
Aufguss sessions can take up to 10 minutes, and take place according to a schedule. During an Aufguss session the Saunameister uses a large towel to circulate the hot air through the sauna, intensifying sweating and the perception of heat. Once the Aufguss session has started it is not considered good manners to enter the sauna, as opening the door would cause loss of heat (Sauna guests are expected to enter the sauna just in time before the Aufguss. Leaving the session is allowed, but grudgingly tolerated). Aufguss sessions are usually announced by a schedule on the sauna door. An Aufguss session in progress might be indicated by a light or sign hung above the sauna entrance. Cold showers or baths shortly after a sauna, as well as exposure to fresh air in a special balcony, garden or open-air room (Frischluftraum) are considered a must.
In German-speaking Switzerland, customs are generally the same as in Germany and Austria, although you tend to see more families (parents with their children) and young people. Also in respect to socialising in the sauna the Swiss tend more to be like the Finns, Scandinavians or Russians. Also in German-speaking countries, there are many facilities for washing after using the sauna, with 'dunking pools' (pools of very cold water in which a person dips themselves after using the sauna) or showers. In some saunas and steam rooms, scented salts are given out which can be rubbed into the skin for extra aroma and cleaning effects.
History: France, the United Kingdom, and Mediterranean Europe
In France, the United Kingdom, and much of southern Europe, single-gender saunas are the most common type. Nudity is expected in the segregated saunas but usually forbidden in the mixed saunas. This is a source of confusion when residents of these nations visit Germany and Austria or vice-versa. Sauna sessions tend to be shorter and cold showers are shunned by most. In the United Kingdom, where public saunas are becoming increasingly fashionable, the practice of alternating between the sauna and the jacuzzi in short seatings has emerged. Foreign visitors should also be aware that some small establishments advertised as 'saunas' are in fact brothels and it is rare to have a legitimate sauna with no other health spa or gym facilities in the UK.
In Portugal, the steam baths were commonly used by the Castrejos people, prior to the arrival of the Romans in the western part of the Iberian peninsula. The historian Estrabão (Portuguese Wikipedia) spoke of Lusitans traditions that consisted of having steam bath sessions followed by cold water baths. Pedra Formosa is the original name given to the central piece of the steam bath in pre-Roman times.
In French-speaking Switzerland, customs are less rigid. Often, patrons have their choice of bathing nude or clothed. Other facilities offer nude single-sex saunas, nude mixed-gender saunas, and clothed mixed-gender saunas on the same premises.
In Portugal, the steam baths were commonly used by the Castrejos people, prior to the arrival of the Romans in the western part of the Iberian peninsula. The historian Estrabão (Portuguese Wikipedia) spoke of Lusitans traditions that consisted of having steam bath sessions followed by cold water baths. Pedra Formosa is the original name given to the central piece of the steam bath in pre-Roman times.
In French-speaking Switzerland, customs are less rigid. Often, patrons have their choice of bathing nude or clothed. Other facilities offer nude single-sex saunas, nude mixed-gender saunas, and clothed mixed-gender saunas on the same premises.
History: Iran
In Iran, most gyms, hotels and almost all public swimming pools have indoor saunas. It is very common for swimming pools to have two saunas which are dry sauna & steam sauna, with the dry type customarily boasting a higher temperature.
A cold water pool (and/or more recently a cold jacuzzi) is almost always accompanied and towels are usually provided. Adding therapeutic or relaxing essential oils to the rocks is far from uncommon. In Iran, unlike Finland, sitting in sauna is mostly seen as part of the spa/club culture, rather than a bathing ritual.
It is most usually perceived as a means for relaxation or detoxification (through perspiration). Having a sauna room on a private property is considered a luxury rather than a necessity. Public saunas are segregated and nudity is prohibited.
A cold water pool (and/or more recently a cold jacuzzi) is almost always accompanied and towels are usually provided. Adding therapeutic or relaxing essential oils to the rocks is far from uncommon. In Iran, unlike Finland, sitting in sauna is mostly seen as part of the spa/club culture, rather than a bathing ritual.
It is most usually perceived as a means for relaxation or detoxification (through perspiration). Having a sauna room on a private property is considered a luxury rather than a necessity. Public saunas are segregated and nudity is prohibited.
History: Indonesian Oukup
Among the Karo people of North Sumatra, Indonesia, the oukup is a traditional form of sauna in which the bather is wrapped in blankets with spice-scented steam coming from a boiling cauldron. The modern oukup is now done using steam piped into a small room. A similar bath, known as mar-tup was practised by the Batak Toba people. Both tribes traditionally performed the bath after childbirth, but it is now used as a general restorative or for relaxation, and oukup parlours typically also offer massage services.
Many modern oukup parlours can be found in Medan and other cities in North Sumatra, since the opening of the first modern oukup parlour in 1992 in Medan. The bath is scented using fresh ginger, turmeric, pepper, star anise, temu kunci, coriander, celery leaves, kencur, and many other spices and herbs. Oukup parlours can now also be found in other parts of Indonesia, such as Jakarta.
Many modern oukup parlours can be found in Medan and other cities in North Sumatra, since the opening of the first modern oukup parlour in 1992 in Medan. The bath is scented using fresh ginger, turmeric, pepper, star anise, temu kunci, coriander, celery leaves, kencur, and many other spices and herbs. Oukup parlours can now also be found in other parts of Indonesia, such as Jakarta.
History: Korean Jjimjilbang
A Jjimjilbang is a large, gender-segregated public bathhouse in Korea, furnished with hot tubs, showers, Korean traditional kiln saunas and massage tables.
Jjimjil is derived from the words meaning heated bath. However, in other areas of the building or on other floors there are unisex areas, usually with a snack bar, ondol-heated floor for lounging and sleeping, wide-screen TVs, exercise rooms, ice rooms, heated salt rooms, PC bang, noraebang, and sleeping quarters with either bunk beds or sleeping mats. Many of the sleeping rooms can have themes or elements to them. Usually Jjimjilbangs will have various rooms with different temperatures to suit guests' preferred relaxing temperatures. The walls are decorated with different woods, minerals, crystals, stones, and metals. This is to make the ambient mood and smell more natural. Often the elements used have traditional Korean medicinal purposes in the various rooms.
Most jjimjilbangs are open 24 hours and are a popular weekend getaway for Korean families. During the week, many hardworking Korean men, whose families live out of the city for cost savings, stay in Jjimjilbangs overnight after working or drinking with co-workers late into the night; the cost is 6,000–10,000 South Korean won to enter, and one can sleep overnight, enjoy the bathhouse and sauna, and wake up fresh and ready to travel the next morning. Jjimjilbangs are also popular with Korean women, and traditionally, Korean mothers used to take care of themselves in rooms made of loess (called "Yellow Mud" in Korean) for three weeks before giving birth.
Jjimjil is derived from the words meaning heated bath. However, in other areas of the building or on other floors there are unisex areas, usually with a snack bar, ondol-heated floor for lounging and sleeping, wide-screen TVs, exercise rooms, ice rooms, heated salt rooms, PC bang, noraebang, and sleeping quarters with either bunk beds or sleeping mats. Many of the sleeping rooms can have themes or elements to them. Usually Jjimjilbangs will have various rooms with different temperatures to suit guests' preferred relaxing temperatures. The walls are decorated with different woods, minerals, crystals, stones, and metals. This is to make the ambient mood and smell more natural. Often the elements used have traditional Korean medicinal purposes in the various rooms.
Most jjimjilbangs are open 24 hours and are a popular weekend getaway for Korean families. During the week, many hardworking Korean men, whose families live out of the city for cost savings, stay in Jjimjilbangs overnight after working or drinking with co-workers late into the night; the cost is 6,000–10,000 South Korean won to enter, and one can sleep overnight, enjoy the bathhouse and sauna, and wake up fresh and ready to travel the next morning. Jjimjilbangs are also popular with Korean women, and traditionally, Korean mothers used to take care of themselves in rooms made of loess (called "Yellow Mud" in Korean) for three weeks before giving birth.
History: Japanese Mushi Buro (Social and culture)
Etiquette
As mentioned above, the Japanese public bath is one area where the uninitiated can upset regular customers by not following correct bathing etiquette designed to respect others. In particular; not washing before bathing, introducing soap into the bath water and horseplay. Sentō commonly display a poster describing bathing etiquette and procedures in Japanese or occasionally in other languages for international customers.
Some ports in Hokkaidō, frequently used by the Russian fishing fleet had problems with drunken Russian sailors misbehaving in the bath. Subsequently, a few bath houses chose not to allow foreign customers at all.
Tattoos
Some public baths have signs refusing entry for people with tattoos. However, one may be allowed in if the tattoos are not too obvious. If one ventures to a public bathing place that is publicly owned, this should not present a problem as they have a duty to let all tax-paying citizens in. The original reason behind the ban was to keep out the yakuza (officially called the "violence groups" by the police).
Sanitation
Japanese public baths have suffered infrequent outbreaks of dangerous Legionella bacteria. In order to prevent such problems, the sentō union adds chlorine to its baths. At the cost of higher levels of chlorine, bacteria outbreaks are practically non-existent at sentō facilities of today.
Pricing
Rules and pricing are regulated per prefecture based on local committees. Basic entrance fee for adults at a sentō in Tokyo is ¥450. Citing rise in oil prices as rationale, price has been raised from ¥400 (2000–2006), to ¥430 (2006–2008), and again to ¥450 (2008–present).
In Tokyo, the price for children to enter have remained unchanged: 6 to 11 year olds can enter at ¥180 each, while younger children can enter at ¥80 each. Children 10 years or younger are permitted to enter the baths of either gender. In other prefectures, the cut off age can be as high as 12 in Hokkaidō or as low as 6 in Hyōgo.
Most sentō in Tokyo also offer a premium service for which each facility sets its own price, usually around ¥1,000. This option is usually called a sauna, since at least sauna is included. At Civic Land Nissei, for example, the sauna option includes access to more than half of all the facilities available.
Larger scale public bathing facility types are called super sentō and kenkō land, both more expensive than sentō, while super sentō offer a more compromised price.
At ¥300 per adult, the cheapest prefectures to sentō baths are in Yamagata, Tokushima, Nagasaki, Ōita, and Miyazaki.
As mentioned above, the Japanese public bath is one area where the uninitiated can upset regular customers by not following correct bathing etiquette designed to respect others. In particular; not washing before bathing, introducing soap into the bath water and horseplay. Sentō commonly display a poster describing bathing etiquette and procedures in Japanese or occasionally in other languages for international customers.
Some ports in Hokkaidō, frequently used by the Russian fishing fleet had problems with drunken Russian sailors misbehaving in the bath. Subsequently, a few bath houses chose not to allow foreign customers at all.
Tattoos
Some public baths have signs refusing entry for people with tattoos. However, one may be allowed in if the tattoos are not too obvious. If one ventures to a public bathing place that is publicly owned, this should not present a problem as they have a duty to let all tax-paying citizens in. The original reason behind the ban was to keep out the yakuza (officially called the "violence groups" by the police).
Sanitation
Japanese public baths have suffered infrequent outbreaks of dangerous Legionella bacteria. In order to prevent such problems, the sentō union adds chlorine to its baths. At the cost of higher levels of chlorine, bacteria outbreaks are practically non-existent at sentō facilities of today.
Pricing
Rules and pricing are regulated per prefecture based on local committees. Basic entrance fee for adults at a sentō in Tokyo is ¥450. Citing rise in oil prices as rationale, price has been raised from ¥400 (2000–2006), to ¥430 (2006–2008), and again to ¥450 (2008–present).
In Tokyo, the price for children to enter have remained unchanged: 6 to 11 year olds can enter at ¥180 each, while younger children can enter at ¥80 each. Children 10 years or younger are permitted to enter the baths of either gender. In other prefectures, the cut off age can be as high as 12 in Hokkaidō or as low as 6 in Hyōgo.
Most sentō in Tokyo also offer a premium service for which each facility sets its own price, usually around ¥1,000. This option is usually called a sauna, since at least sauna is included. At Civic Land Nissei, for example, the sauna option includes access to more than half of all the facilities available.
Larger scale public bathing facility types are called super sentō and kenkō land, both more expensive than sentō, while super sentō offer a more compromised price.
At ¥300 per adult, the cheapest prefectures to sentō baths are in Yamagata, Tokushima, Nagasaki, Ōita, and Miyazaki.
History: Japanese Mushi Buro (Structure)
General layout of a Sento
Entrance area
There are many different looks for a Japanese sentō, or public bath. Most traditional sentō, however, are very similar to the layout shown on the right. The entrance from the outside looks somewhat similar to a temple, with a Japanese curtain (noren) across the entrance. The curtain is usually blue and shows the kanji (hot water) or the corresponding hiragana. After the entrance there is an area with shoe lockers, followed by two long curtains or door, one on each side. These lead to the datsuijo (changing room), also known as datsuiba for the men and women respectively. The men's and the women's side are very similar and differ only slightly.
Changing room
A public bathing facility in Japan typically has one of two kinds of entrances. One is the front desk variety, where a person in charge sits at a front desk, abbreviated as "front." The other entrance variety is the bandai style. In Tokyo, 660 sentō facilities have a "front"-type entrance, while only 315 still have the more traditional bandai-style entrance.
Inside, between the entrances is the bandai, where the attendant sits. The bandai is a rectangular or horseshoe-shaped platform with a railing, usually around 1.5 to 1.8 m high. Above the bandai is usually a large clock. Immediately in front of the bandai is usually a utility door, to be used by the attendants only. The dressing room is approximately 10 m by 10 m square, sometimes partly covered with tatami sheets and contains the lockers for the clothes. Often, there is a large shelf storing equipment for regular customers.
The ceiling is very high, at 3 to 4 m. The separating wall between the men's and the women's side is about 2 m high. The dressing room also often has access to a very small Japanese garden with a pond, and a Japanese-style toilet. There are a number of tables and chairs, including some coin-operated massage chairs. Usually there is also a scale to measure weight, and sometimes height. Local business often advertises in the sentō. The women's side usually has some baby beds, and may have more mirrors. The decoration and the advertising is often gender-specific on the different sides. There is usually a refreshment cooler here where customers can self-serve and pay the attendant. Milk drinks are traditional favorites and sometimes there is ice cream.
Bathing area
The bathing area is separated from the changing area by a sliding door to keep the heat in the bath. An exception are baths in the Okinawa region, as the weather there is usually already hot, and there is no need to keep the hot air in the bath. Sentō in Okinawa usually have no separation between the changing room and the bathing area or only a small wall with an opening to pass through.
The bathing area is usually tiled. Near the entrance area is a supply of small stools and buckets. There are a number of washing stations at the wall and sometimes in the middle of the room, each with usually two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold water, and a shower head.
At the end of the room are the bathtubs, usually at least two or three with different water temperatures, and maybe a 'denki buro' ( electric bath). In the Osaka and Kansai area the bathtubs are more often found in the center of the room, whereas in Tokyo they are usually at the end of the room. The separating wall between the men and the women side is also about 2 m high. The ceiling may be 4 m high, with large windows in the top. On rare occasions the separating wall also has a small hole. This was used to pass soap. At the wall on the far end of the room is usually a large ceramic tile mural or painting for decoration. Most often this is Mount Fuji as seen in the picture to the right, but it may be a general Japanese landscape, an European landscape, a river or ocean scene. On rarer occasions it may also show a group of warriors or a female nude on the male side. Playing children or a female beauty often decorate the women's side.
Boiler room
Behind the bathing area is the boiler room (kamaba), where the water is heated. This may use oil or electricity, or any other type of fuel such as wood chippings. The tall chimneys of the boilers are often used to locate the sentō from far away. After the war Tokyo often had power outages when all bath house owners turned on the electric water heating at the same time.
Sauna
Many modern sentō have a sauna with a bathtub of cold water just outside it for cooling off afterwards. It should be noted that you are expected to pay an extra fee to use the sauna, and you will often receive a simple wristband to signify your payment of the extra fee.
Etiquette
This section describes the basic procedure to use a sentō. The public bath is an area where the uninitiated can seriously offend or inconvenience the regulars.
Equipment
Taking a bath at a public sentō requires at a bare minimum a small towel and some soap/shampoo. Attendants usually sell these items for 100-200 yen. Many people bring two towels; a handtowel for drying and a handtowel or washcloth for washing. A nylon scrubbing cloth or scrub brush with liquid soap is normally used for washing. Other body hygiene products may include a pumice stone, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving equipment, combs, shower caps, pomade, make up products, powder, creams, etc. Some regular customers store their bucket of bathing equipment on open shelves in the dressing room.
Entrance and undressing
In Japan it is customary to remove one's shoes when entering a private home. Similarly shoes are removed before entering the bathing area in a sentō. They are kept in a shoe locker. The locker is usually available free of charge. Afterwards bathers go through one of the two doors depending on their gender. The men's door usually has a bluish color and the kanji for man (otoko), and the women's door usually has a reddish color and the kanji for woman (onna). The fee is set at 450 yen for all sentō in Tokyo. The attendant usually provides at extra cost a variety of bath products including towel, soap, shampoo, razor, and comb. Ice cream or juice from the freezer can also be paid for here. There are usually free lockers with keys (that may be worn on the wrist into the baths) or large baskets provided to put personal effects.
Bathing area
At onsen, or hot springs, the water contains minerals, and many people do not rinse off the water from the skin, to increase exposure to the minerals. In a regular sentō, people usually rinse off at the faucets.
Entrance area
There are many different looks for a Japanese sentō, or public bath. Most traditional sentō, however, are very similar to the layout shown on the right. The entrance from the outside looks somewhat similar to a temple, with a Japanese curtain (noren) across the entrance. The curtain is usually blue and shows the kanji (hot water) or the corresponding hiragana. After the entrance there is an area with shoe lockers, followed by two long curtains or door, one on each side. These lead to the datsuijo (changing room), also known as datsuiba for the men and women respectively. The men's and the women's side are very similar and differ only slightly.
Changing room
A public bathing facility in Japan typically has one of two kinds of entrances. One is the front desk variety, where a person in charge sits at a front desk, abbreviated as "front." The other entrance variety is the bandai style. In Tokyo, 660 sentō facilities have a "front"-type entrance, while only 315 still have the more traditional bandai-style entrance.
Inside, between the entrances is the bandai, where the attendant sits. The bandai is a rectangular or horseshoe-shaped platform with a railing, usually around 1.5 to 1.8 m high. Above the bandai is usually a large clock. Immediately in front of the bandai is usually a utility door, to be used by the attendants only. The dressing room is approximately 10 m by 10 m square, sometimes partly covered with tatami sheets and contains the lockers for the clothes. Often, there is a large shelf storing equipment for regular customers.
The ceiling is very high, at 3 to 4 m. The separating wall between the men's and the women's side is about 2 m high. The dressing room also often has access to a very small Japanese garden with a pond, and a Japanese-style toilet. There are a number of tables and chairs, including some coin-operated massage chairs. Usually there is also a scale to measure weight, and sometimes height. Local business often advertises in the sentō. The women's side usually has some baby beds, and may have more mirrors. The decoration and the advertising is often gender-specific on the different sides. There is usually a refreshment cooler here where customers can self-serve and pay the attendant. Milk drinks are traditional favorites and sometimes there is ice cream.
Bathing area
The bathing area is separated from the changing area by a sliding door to keep the heat in the bath. An exception are baths in the Okinawa region, as the weather there is usually already hot, and there is no need to keep the hot air in the bath. Sentō in Okinawa usually have no separation between the changing room and the bathing area or only a small wall with an opening to pass through.
The bathing area is usually tiled. Near the entrance area is a supply of small stools and buckets. There are a number of washing stations at the wall and sometimes in the middle of the room, each with usually two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold water, and a shower head.
At the end of the room are the bathtubs, usually at least two or three with different water temperatures, and maybe a 'denki buro' ( electric bath). In the Osaka and Kansai area the bathtubs are more often found in the center of the room, whereas in Tokyo they are usually at the end of the room. The separating wall between the men and the women side is also about 2 m high. The ceiling may be 4 m high, with large windows in the top. On rare occasions the separating wall also has a small hole. This was used to pass soap. At the wall on the far end of the room is usually a large ceramic tile mural or painting for decoration. Most often this is Mount Fuji as seen in the picture to the right, but it may be a general Japanese landscape, an European landscape, a river or ocean scene. On rarer occasions it may also show a group of warriors or a female nude on the male side. Playing children or a female beauty often decorate the women's side.
Boiler room
Behind the bathing area is the boiler room (kamaba), where the water is heated. This may use oil or electricity, or any other type of fuel such as wood chippings. The tall chimneys of the boilers are often used to locate the sentō from far away. After the war Tokyo often had power outages when all bath house owners turned on the electric water heating at the same time.
Sauna
Many modern sentō have a sauna with a bathtub of cold water just outside it for cooling off afterwards. It should be noted that you are expected to pay an extra fee to use the sauna, and you will often receive a simple wristband to signify your payment of the extra fee.
Etiquette
This section describes the basic procedure to use a sentō. The public bath is an area where the uninitiated can seriously offend or inconvenience the regulars.
Equipment
Taking a bath at a public sentō requires at a bare minimum a small towel and some soap/shampoo. Attendants usually sell these items for 100-200 yen. Many people bring two towels; a handtowel for drying and a handtowel or washcloth for washing. A nylon scrubbing cloth or scrub brush with liquid soap is normally used for washing. Other body hygiene products may include a pumice stone, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving equipment, combs, shower caps, pomade, make up products, powder, creams, etc. Some regular customers store their bucket of bathing equipment on open shelves in the dressing room.
Entrance and undressing
In Japan it is customary to remove one's shoes when entering a private home. Similarly shoes are removed before entering the bathing area in a sentō. They are kept in a shoe locker. The locker is usually available free of charge. Afterwards bathers go through one of the two doors depending on their gender. The men's door usually has a bluish color and the kanji for man (otoko), and the women's door usually has a reddish color and the kanji for woman (onna). The fee is set at 450 yen for all sentō in Tokyo. The attendant usually provides at extra cost a variety of bath products including towel, soap, shampoo, razor, and comb. Ice cream or juice from the freezer can also be paid for here. There are usually free lockers with keys (that may be worn on the wrist into the baths) or large baskets provided to put personal effects.
Bathing area
At onsen, or hot springs, the water contains minerals, and many people do not rinse off the water from the skin, to increase exposure to the minerals. In a regular sentō, people usually rinse off at the faucets.
History: Japanese Mushi Buro (Introduction)
Sentō is a type of Japanese communal bath house where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bath houses have been quite utilitarian, with one large room separating the sexes by a tall barrier, and on both sides, usually a minimum of lined up faucets and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others. Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bath houses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have baths. Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skinship in pseudo-English Japanese. Others go to a sentō because they live in a small housing facility without a private bath or to enjoy bathing in a spacious room and to relax in saunas or jet baths that often accompany new or renovated sentōs.
Another type of Japanese public bath is onsen, which uses hot water from a natural hot spring. They are not exclusive: A sentō can be called an onsen if it derives its bath water from naturally heated hot springs. A legal definition exists that can classify a public bathing facility as sentō.
History
The origins of the Japanese sentō and the Japanese bathing culture in general can be traced to the Buddhist temples in India, from where it spread to China, and finally to Japan during the Nara period (710–784).
Nara period to Kamakura period
The Nara period to Kamakura period is defined as "religious bathing". Initially, due to its religious background, baths in Japan were usually found in a temple. These baths were called yūya (lit. hot water shop), or later when they increased in size ōyuya (lit. big hot water shop). These baths were most often steam baths. While initially these baths were only used by priests, sick people gradually also gained access, until in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) sick people were routinely allowed access to the bath house. Wealthy merchants and members of the upper class soon also included baths in their residences.
Kamakura period
The first mentioning of a commercial bath house is in 1266 in the Nichiren Goshoroku. These mixed-sex bath houses were only vaguely similar to modern bath houses. After entering the bath, there was a changing room called datsuijo. There the customer also received his/her ration of hot water, since there were no faucets in the actual bath. The entrance to the steam bath was only a very small opening with a height of about 80 cm, so that the heat did not escape. Due to the small opening, the lack of windows, and the thick steam, these baths were usually very dark, and customers often cleared their throats to signal their position to others.
Edo period
At the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1867), there were two types of baths common to the eastern and western regions of Japan respectively. In Edo (present day Tokyo), bath houses contained sizable pools, and were called yuya (lit. hot water shop). In Osaka, however, bathing establishments were primarily steam baths called mushiburo (lit. steam bath) that had only shallow pools.
At the end of the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868) at different times required baths to segregate by sex in order to ensure public moral standards. However, many bath house owners merely partitioned their baths with a small board, allowing some voyeurism to persist. Other baths avoided this problem by having men and women bathe at different times of day, or by catering to one gender exclusively. In spite of this, laws regarding mixed-sex bathing were soon relaxed again.
Contributing to the popularity of public baths in the Edo period were female bathing attendants known as yuna (lit. hot water women). These attendants helped cleanse customers by scrubbing their backs. After official closing hours, however, a number of these women would perform additional services by selling sex to male customers[citation needed]. Similarly, some brothels in contemporary Japan have women who specialize in bathing with and cleansing male clientele. Such establishments are often called sōpu rando (soapland).
As a preventive measure against prostitution, the Tokugawa shogunate stipulated that no more than three yuna serve at any given bath house. However, this rule was widely ignored, causing the shogunate to ban female attendants from bath houses altogether and once again prohibit the practice of mixed-sex bathing. Large numbers of unemployed yuna thereafter moved to official red-light districts, where they could continue their services. Up until 1870, there were also male washing assistants called sansuke (lit. three helps) who would wash and massage customers of both genders. Unlike the yuna, these male attendants were not known to engage in prostitution.
Mixed-sex bathing was prohibited once again after Commodore Perry visited Japan in 1853 and 1854—drawing question to the morality of the practice.
Meiji period
Bathing in an Agricultural School in Japan around 1920
During the Meiji period (1867–1912) the design of Japanese baths changed considerably. The narrow entrance to the bathing area was widened considerably to a regular-sized sliding door, the bathtubs were sunk partially in the floor so that they could be entered more easily, and the height of the ceiling of the bath house was then doubled. Since the bath now focused on hot water instead of steam, windows could be added, and the bathing area became much brighter. The only difference between these baths and the modern bath was the use of wood for the bathing area and the lack of faucets.
Furthermore, another law for segregated bathing was passed in 1890, allowing only children below the age of 8 to join a parent of the opposite sex.
Rebuilding
At the beginning of the Taishō period (1912–1926), tiles gradually replaced wooden floors and walls in new bath houses. On September 1, 1923 the great Kantō earthquake devastated Tokyo. The earthquake and the subsequent fire destroyed most baths in the Tokyo area. This accelerated the change from wooden baths to tiled baths, as almost all new bath houses were now built in the new style using tiled bathing areas. At the end of the Taishō period, faucets also became more common, and this type of faucet can still be seen today. These faucets were called karan. There were two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold water, and the customer mixed the water in his bucket according to his personal taste.
Golden era
Entrance of a typical sentō in Tokyo
During World War II (for Japan 1941–1945), many Japanese cities were damaged. Subsequently, most bath houses were destroyed along with the cities. The lack of baths caused the reappearance of communal bathing, and temporary baths were constructed with the available material, often lacking a roof. Furthermore, as most houses were damaged or destroyed, few people had access to a private bath, resulting in a great increase in customers for the bath houses. New buildings in the post war period also often lacked baths or showers, leading to a strong increase in the number of public baths. In 1965 many baths also added showerheads to the faucets in the baths. The number of public baths in Japan peaked around 1970.
Decline
Immediately after World War II, resources were scarce and few homeowners had access to a private bath. Private baths began to be more common around 1970, and most new buildings included a bath and shower unit for every apartment. Easy access to private baths led to a decline in customers for public bath houses, and subsequently the number of bath houses is decreasing.
Another type of Japanese public bath is onsen, which uses hot water from a natural hot spring. They are not exclusive: A sentō can be called an onsen if it derives its bath water from naturally heated hot springs. A legal definition exists that can classify a public bathing facility as sentō.
History
The origins of the Japanese sentō and the Japanese bathing culture in general can be traced to the Buddhist temples in India, from where it spread to China, and finally to Japan during the Nara period (710–784).
Nara period to Kamakura period
The Nara period to Kamakura period is defined as "religious bathing". Initially, due to its religious background, baths in Japan were usually found in a temple. These baths were called yūya (lit. hot water shop), or later when they increased in size ōyuya (lit. big hot water shop). These baths were most often steam baths. While initially these baths were only used by priests, sick people gradually also gained access, until in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) sick people were routinely allowed access to the bath house. Wealthy merchants and members of the upper class soon also included baths in their residences.
Kamakura period
The first mentioning of a commercial bath house is in 1266 in the Nichiren Goshoroku. These mixed-sex bath houses were only vaguely similar to modern bath houses. After entering the bath, there was a changing room called datsuijo. There the customer also received his/her ration of hot water, since there were no faucets in the actual bath. The entrance to the steam bath was only a very small opening with a height of about 80 cm, so that the heat did not escape. Due to the small opening, the lack of windows, and the thick steam, these baths were usually very dark, and customers often cleared their throats to signal their position to others.
Edo period
At the beginning of the Edo period (1603–1867), there were two types of baths common to the eastern and western regions of Japan respectively. In Edo (present day Tokyo), bath houses contained sizable pools, and were called yuya (lit. hot water shop). In Osaka, however, bathing establishments were primarily steam baths called mushiburo (lit. steam bath) that had only shallow pools.
At the end of the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate (1603–1868) at different times required baths to segregate by sex in order to ensure public moral standards. However, many bath house owners merely partitioned their baths with a small board, allowing some voyeurism to persist. Other baths avoided this problem by having men and women bathe at different times of day, or by catering to one gender exclusively. In spite of this, laws regarding mixed-sex bathing were soon relaxed again.
Contributing to the popularity of public baths in the Edo period were female bathing attendants known as yuna (lit. hot water women). These attendants helped cleanse customers by scrubbing their backs. After official closing hours, however, a number of these women would perform additional services by selling sex to male customers[citation needed]. Similarly, some brothels in contemporary Japan have women who specialize in bathing with and cleansing male clientele. Such establishments are often called sōpu rando (soapland).
As a preventive measure against prostitution, the Tokugawa shogunate stipulated that no more than three yuna serve at any given bath house. However, this rule was widely ignored, causing the shogunate to ban female attendants from bath houses altogether and once again prohibit the practice of mixed-sex bathing. Large numbers of unemployed yuna thereafter moved to official red-light districts, where they could continue their services. Up until 1870, there were also male washing assistants called sansuke (lit. three helps) who would wash and massage customers of both genders. Unlike the yuna, these male attendants were not known to engage in prostitution.
Mixed-sex bathing was prohibited once again after Commodore Perry visited Japan in 1853 and 1854—drawing question to the morality of the practice.
Meiji period
Bathing in an Agricultural School in Japan around 1920
During the Meiji period (1867–1912) the design of Japanese baths changed considerably. The narrow entrance to the bathing area was widened considerably to a regular-sized sliding door, the bathtubs were sunk partially in the floor so that they could be entered more easily, and the height of the ceiling of the bath house was then doubled. Since the bath now focused on hot water instead of steam, windows could be added, and the bathing area became much brighter. The only difference between these baths and the modern bath was the use of wood for the bathing area and the lack of faucets.
Furthermore, another law for segregated bathing was passed in 1890, allowing only children below the age of 8 to join a parent of the opposite sex.
Rebuilding
At the beginning of the Taishō period (1912–1926), tiles gradually replaced wooden floors and walls in new bath houses. On September 1, 1923 the great Kantō earthquake devastated Tokyo. The earthquake and the subsequent fire destroyed most baths in the Tokyo area. This accelerated the change from wooden baths to tiled baths, as almost all new bath houses were now built in the new style using tiled bathing areas. At the end of the Taishō period, faucets also became more common, and this type of faucet can still be seen today. These faucets were called karan. There were two faucets, one for hot water and one for cold water, and the customer mixed the water in his bucket according to his personal taste.
Golden era
Entrance of a typical sentō in Tokyo
During World War II (for Japan 1941–1945), many Japanese cities were damaged. Subsequently, most bath houses were destroyed along with the cities. The lack of baths caused the reappearance of communal bathing, and temporary baths were constructed with the available material, often lacking a roof. Furthermore, as most houses were damaged or destroyed, few people had access to a private bath, resulting in a great increase in customers for the bath houses. New buildings in the post war period also often lacked baths or showers, leading to a strong increase in the number of public baths. In 1965 many baths also added showerheads to the faucets in the baths. The number of public baths in Japan peaked around 1970.
Decline
Immediately after World War II, resources were scarce and few homeowners had access to a private bath. Private baths began to be more common around 1970, and most new buildings included a bath and shower unit for every apartment. Easy access to private baths led to a decline in customers for public bath houses, and subsequently the number of bath houses is decreasing.
History: Estonian Saun
Sauna traditions in Estonia are almost identical to Finland as saunas have traditionally held a central role in the life of an individual. Ancient Estonian believed that saunas were inhabited by spirits. In folk tradition sauna was not only the place where one washed, but also used as the place where brides were ceremoniously washed, where women gave birth and the place the dying made their final bed. The folk tradition related to the Estonian sauna is mostly identical to that surrounding the Finnish sauna. On New Year's Eve a sauna would be held before midnight to cleanse the body and spirit for the upcoming year.
The sauna is an ancient source of health for Estonians.
Estonians are true sauna-lovers – their sauna traditions date back 800 years!
The earliest records of saunas in Estonia date back to the early 13th century. Today saunas form an inseparable part of every private home, summer cottage and farm. While the saunas in people’s homes tend to be of the steam variety and are often heated by electricity rather than wood (especially in the city), spas, tourist farms and other businesses offer a diverse range of sauna experiences.
Estonians have such respect for saunas that they’ve built them in some very unusual locations, including on buses, old fire trucks and barges – where in between enjoying the sauna itself and one another’s company the sauna-goers can jump into the lake or river straight from the sauna door. Indian sauna tents are an experience all of their own, too, while many tourist farms have their own barrel saunas, in which one can immerse oneself in steaming water out in the open air surrounded by nature.
Though Estonia’s northern neighbor, Finland, is the undisputed sauna capital of the world (the very word ‘sauna’ in English is actually borrowed straight from the Finnish), the practice of confining steam or heat to a confined area for bathing purposes is found in a number of world cultures. Japanese, Native Americans and Russians all have their versions of steam and sweat baths. The Estonian saun is thought to come from a rural sauna tradition that extends from the Baltic region to the Urals, so it’s no surprise that the development of sauna culture and practices here has a lot in common with that of Estonia’s neighbors. The aforementioned Finns will find few differences between their sauna designs and the ones in Estonia. Since the tradition dates back before written records were kept, there’s no way of telling how long it has been going on in the country. The fact that there’s even a ‘Sauna’ street and a medieval ‘Sauna Tower’ in Tallinn’s Old Town is, however, a good indicator of the importance of saunas in centuries past. These days, while saunas are often still used for bathing by country folk, it’s much more common to find them used for de-stressing, for warming up, and for parties. Because advances in technology mean that saunas are no longer confined to separate buildings or little huts in the woods, a lot of hotels and sports clubs have one or more saunas built in. Some inventive people even manage to squeeze two-person saunas into their tiny, Soviet-era apartments.
The sauna is an ancient source of health for Estonians.
Estonians are true sauna-lovers – their sauna traditions date back 800 years!
The earliest records of saunas in Estonia date back to the early 13th century. Today saunas form an inseparable part of every private home, summer cottage and farm. While the saunas in people’s homes tend to be of the steam variety and are often heated by electricity rather than wood (especially in the city), spas, tourist farms and other businesses offer a diverse range of sauna experiences.
Estonians have such respect for saunas that they’ve built them in some very unusual locations, including on buses, old fire trucks and barges – where in between enjoying the sauna itself and one another’s company the sauna-goers can jump into the lake or river straight from the sauna door. Indian sauna tents are an experience all of their own, too, while many tourist farms have their own barrel saunas, in which one can immerse oneself in steaming water out in the open air surrounded by nature.
Though Estonia’s northern neighbor, Finland, is the undisputed sauna capital of the world (the very word ‘sauna’ in English is actually borrowed straight from the Finnish), the practice of confining steam or heat to a confined area for bathing purposes is found in a number of world cultures. Japanese, Native Americans and Russians all have their versions of steam and sweat baths. The Estonian saun is thought to come from a rural sauna tradition that extends from the Baltic region to the Urals, so it’s no surprise that the development of sauna culture and practices here has a lot in common with that of Estonia’s neighbors. The aforementioned Finns will find few differences between their sauna designs and the ones in Estonia. Since the tradition dates back before written records were kept, there’s no way of telling how long it has been going on in the country. The fact that there’s even a ‘Sauna’ street and a medieval ‘Sauna Tower’ in Tallinn’s Old Town is, however, a good indicator of the importance of saunas in centuries past. These days, while saunas are often still used for bathing by country folk, it’s much more common to find them used for de-stressing, for warming up, and for parties. Because advances in technology mean that saunas are no longer confined to separate buildings or little huts in the woods, a lot of hotels and sports clubs have one or more saunas built in. Some inventive people even manage to squeeze two-person saunas into their tiny, Soviet-era apartments.
History: Europe, Russian Banya (Bathing Ritual)
Banya temperatures often will exceed 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius) and special felt hats are typically worn to protect the head from this intense heat. Some clients prefer to sit on a small mat brought into the banya to protect bare skin from the dry, hot wood of the interior benches. In Russia, special felt hats are commonly sold in sets with felt mitts, along with aromatherapy extracts for inclusion into the steam water. People often hit (massage) themselves or others with bunches of dried branches and leaves from white birch, oak or eucalyptus (called venik, веник) in order to improve the circulation. The dried branches are moistened with very hot water before use. Sometimes in summer, fresh branches are used instead. Sometimes instead of drying the venik, it is frozen in the summer when it has fresh leaves and then thawed before use. In the central European Jewish baths Schmeis were used in place of birch twigs: long brushes made of rafia. After the first good sweat is induced, it is customary to cool off in the breeze outdoors or splash around in cold water or in a lake or river.
In the winter, people may roll in the snow with no clothes on or dip in lakes where holes have been cut into the ice. Then the banya is re-entered and small amounts of water are splashed on the rocks. If too much water is used at once, the steam will be cool with a clammy feel. A small amount of water on sufficiently hot rocks will evaporate quickly, producing a steam consisting of small vapour particles. Waving the venik causes convective heat. The second sweat is commonly the first time venik is used, but some people wait until the third session. After each sweat, cooling off is repeated and patrons use the break to drink beer, tea, or other beverages, play games or relax in good company in an antechamber to the steam room. Commercial banyas often have only a steam room or a steam room and a dry room, depending on local custom.
In the winter, people may roll in the snow with no clothes on or dip in lakes where holes have been cut into the ice. Then the banya is re-entered and small amounts of water are splashed on the rocks. If too much water is used at once, the steam will be cool with a clammy feel. A small amount of water on sufficiently hot rocks will evaporate quickly, producing a steam consisting of small vapour particles. Waving the venik causes convective heat. The second sweat is commonly the first time venik is used, but some people wait until the third session. After each sweat, cooling off is repeated and patrons use the break to drink beer, tea, or other beverages, play games or relax in good company in an antechamber to the steam room. Commercial banyas often have only a steam room or a steam room and a dry room, depending on local custom.
History: Europe, Russian Banya (Pokhodnaya banya)
The pokhodnaya banya (походная баня) or "hiking banya," is popular among the Russian military, mountaineers and people who travel for extended periods in harsh environments. It consists of a stone oven set up in a small makeshift tent. Hiking banyas are usually made near a lakeshore or riverbank where many big, round stones are available to build the banya's oven and there is plenty of cool water available for bathing. Large stones are made into a dome-shaped circular oven, one to four meters in diameter and a half to one meter in height so that there is space left on the inside to make a large fire. Firewood is burned for several hours in this improvised stove until the stones on the surface of the pile become so hot that water poured on them turns into steam. Around the pile, a space is tarped to form a small tent and the banya is ready when it becomes very hot inside and there is a lot of steam. Fresh veniks can be cut from nearby birch or oak trees and bathers can take turns cooling off in the ice-cold mountain water.
History: Europe, Russian Banya (Structure)
Interior of a typical Russian banya
Banya buildings can be quite large with a number of different bathing areas or simple wooden cabins like the traditional Finnish cottage saunas. Russian banyas usually have three rooms: a steam room, a washing room and an entrance room. The entrance room, called a predbannik (предбанник) or pre-bath, has pegs to hang clothing upon and benches to rest on. The washing room has a hot water tap, which uses water heated by the steam room stove and a vessel or tap for cold water to mix water of a comfortable temperature for washing. The heater has three compartments: a fire box that is fed from the entrance room, the rock chamber, which has a small hole to throw the water into and a water tank at the top. The top of the water tank is usually closed to prevent vapour from infiltrating the banya. Water from a bucket by the stove is poured over the heated rocks in the stove. There are wooden benches across the room. People enter the steam room when the stove is hot, but before water is poured on the rocks. Getting a good sweat is thought to protect and condition the skin from the steam.
Black banyas and white banyas
In a "black banya" (по-чёрному), the smoke escapes through a hole in the ceiling, while in "white banyas" (по-белому) there are exhaust pipes to vent the smoke. In the former, the escaping smoke darkens the banya's interior wood. Both styles are characterized by boulder stones, clay balls and large cauldrons for the hot water as well as stone stoves with a tank to heat the water. The firewood is usually birch. A black banya is more rudimentary than a white banya.
Banya buildings can be quite large with a number of different bathing areas or simple wooden cabins like the traditional Finnish cottage saunas. Russian banyas usually have three rooms: a steam room, a washing room and an entrance room. The entrance room, called a predbannik (предбанник) or pre-bath, has pegs to hang clothing upon and benches to rest on. The washing room has a hot water tap, which uses water heated by the steam room stove and a vessel or tap for cold water to mix water of a comfortable temperature for washing. The heater has three compartments: a fire box that is fed from the entrance room, the rock chamber, which has a small hole to throw the water into and a water tank at the top. The top of the water tank is usually closed to prevent vapour from infiltrating the banya. Water from a bucket by the stove is poured over the heated rocks in the stove. There are wooden benches across the room. People enter the steam room when the stove is hot, but before water is poured on the rocks. Getting a good sweat is thought to protect and condition the skin from the steam.
Black banyas and white banyas
In a "black banya" (по-чёрному), the smoke escapes through a hole in the ceiling, while in "white banyas" (по-белому) there are exhaust pipes to vent the smoke. In the former, the escaping smoke darkens the banya's interior wood. Both styles are characterized by boulder stones, clay balls and large cauldrons for the hot water as well as stone stoves with a tank to heat the water. The firewood is usually birch. A black banya is more rudimentary than a white banya.
History: Europe, Russian Banya (Comparison)
Finnish sauna
Russian banya is the closest relative of the Finnish Sauna. Sometimes they are distinguished by saunas having dry steam and banyas wet steam. However, historically, both types used wet steam. However, it is notable that, in modern Russian, a sauna is often called a "Finnish Banya", though possibly only to distinguish it from other ethnic high-temperature bathing facilities such as Turkish baths referred to as "Turkish Banya". Sauna, with its ancient history amongst Nordic and Uralic peoples, is a source of national pride for Finns.
Turkish hammam
The hammam (Turkish saunas) is not as luxurious as Roman baths. A visitor who enters the Bathhouse finds himself in a spacious hall, where he leaves his clothes and then proceeds down the stairs and through a long narrow corridor to the soap room. In this room he sees several niches for bathing and 3 narrow doors leading to steam bath, to a cooler room, and to the hall for resting. This is the order of the bathing procedure. Only after having completed it, one goes to a masseur. The source of steam is a gigantic tub of water inside the wall. The steam goes through the hole in the wall. Moreover, the entire bath is heated by the hot air, coming through a special pipe located under the marble floor. The bather lies on the hot stone and sweats. When sweating is plentiful, massage starts.
Thermal bathing in other cultures
In North America, the use of sweat lodges by American Indians is similar in concept to the smoke saunas of Finland or the black banya and was recorded as early as 1643. There is evidence of the use of sweat lodges in Mesoamerica before the European arrival, such as the Temazcal which is still used in some regions of Mexico and Central America.
Europe, Russian Banya (Introduction)
Ancient Romans had a cult of bathhouse. Greeting each other they said: "How is your sweating?" In the bathhouse they not only washed themselves, but socialized, painted, read poetry, sang, and feasted. Their bathhouses had special rooms for massage, gyms, and libraries. Wealthy citizens went to the bathhouse twice a day. Both private and public baths were distinguished by exceptional luxury - swimming pools were made of precious marble, silver and budder were used to decorate sinks. By the first century BC there were around 150 thermas in Rome. Steam rooms were heated in the same way as Russian Banyas and Finnish Saunas: oven was placed in the corner, stones were laid on the bronze frame over the red-hot charcoal. Rooms with wet and dry steam were also available. Hot air was coming through a pipe under the floor. The structure of Thermas was complex: there were 5 rooms: a room for undressing and resting after bathing, swimming pool for the first bathing, a room for washing with warm and hot water, and finally a room for dry steam and wet bath.
Saturday, 15 March 2014
History: Canada and United States Sweat Lodge (Tradition and practices)
Rituals and traditions associated with sweating vary regionally and culturally. Ceremonies often include traditional prayers and songs. In some cultures drumming and offerings to the spirit world may be part of the ceremony, or a sweat lodge ceremony may be a part of another, longer ceremony such as a Sun Dance. Some common practices and key elements associated with sweat lodges include:
Training - Most cultures that hold ceremonial sweats require that someone go through intensive training for many years to be allowed to lead a lodge. One of the requirements is that the leader be able to pray and communicate fluently in the indigenous language of that culture, and that they understand how to conduct the ceremony safely. This leadership role is granted by the Elders of the community, not self-designated.
Orientation – The door may face a sacred fire. The cardinal directions may have symbolism in the culture that is holding the sweating ceremony. The lodge may be oriented within its environment for a specific purpose. Placement and orientation of the lodge within its environment are often considered to facilitate the ceremony's connection with the spirit world, as well as practical considerations of usage.
Construction – The lodge is generally built with great care, and with respect for the environment and for the materials being used. Many traditions construct the lodge in complete silence, some have a drum playing while they build, and other traditions have the builders fast during construction.
Clothing – In Native American lodges participants usually wear a simple garment such as shorts or a loose dress.
Support – In many traditions, one or more persons will remain outside the sweat lodge to protect the ceremony, assist the participants, and aid lodge etiquette. Sometimes they will tend the fire and place the hot stones, if it is a structure that uses stones, though usually this is done by a designated firekeeper.
Darkness - Many traditions consider it important that sweats be done in complete darkness.
Etiquette
The most important part of sweat lodge etiquette is respecting the traditions of the culture in question. It is important to know what is allowed and expected before entering a lodge. Traditional Peoples usually place a high value on modesty. Women are usually expected to wear skirts and t-shirts, or short-sleeved dresses of a longer length. In some traditions, nudity is forbidden, as are mixed sex sweats. Some lodge leaders do not allow menstruating women. Perhaps the most important piece of etiquette is gratitude. It is important to be thankful to the purpose of the sweat, the people joining you in the lodge, and those helping to support the sweat lodge.
Training - Most cultures that hold ceremonial sweats require that someone go through intensive training for many years to be allowed to lead a lodge. One of the requirements is that the leader be able to pray and communicate fluently in the indigenous language of that culture, and that they understand how to conduct the ceremony safely. This leadership role is granted by the Elders of the community, not self-designated.
Orientation – The door may face a sacred fire. The cardinal directions may have symbolism in the culture that is holding the sweating ceremony. The lodge may be oriented within its environment for a specific purpose. Placement and orientation of the lodge within its environment are often considered to facilitate the ceremony's connection with the spirit world, as well as practical considerations of usage.
Construction – The lodge is generally built with great care, and with respect for the environment and for the materials being used. Many traditions construct the lodge in complete silence, some have a drum playing while they build, and other traditions have the builders fast during construction.
Clothing – In Native American lodges participants usually wear a simple garment such as shorts or a loose dress.
Support – In many traditions, one or more persons will remain outside the sweat lodge to protect the ceremony, assist the participants, and aid lodge etiquette. Sometimes they will tend the fire and place the hot stones, if it is a structure that uses stones, though usually this is done by a designated firekeeper.
Darkness - Many traditions consider it important that sweats be done in complete darkness.
Etiquette
The most important part of sweat lodge etiquette is respecting the traditions of the culture in question. It is important to know what is allowed and expected before entering a lodge. Traditional Peoples usually place a high value on modesty. Women are usually expected to wear skirts and t-shirts, or short-sleeved dresses of a longer length. In some traditions, nudity is forbidden, as are mixed sex sweats. Some lodge leaders do not allow menstruating women. Perhaps the most important piece of etiquette is gratitude. It is important to be thankful to the purpose of the sweat, the people joining you in the lodge, and those helping to support the sweat lodge.
History: Canada and United States Sweat Lodge (Introduction)
The sweat lodge or sweat house (also called purification ceremony, ceremonial sauna, or simply sweat) is a ceremonial or ritual event in some cultures, particularly among some North American First Nations, Native American, Scandinavian, Baltic and Eastern European cultures. There are several styles of structures used in different cultures; these include a domed or oblong hut similar to a wickiup, a permanent structure made of wood or stone, or even a simple hole dug into the ground and covered with planks or tree trunks. Stones are typically heated and then water poured over them to create steam. In ceremonial usage, these ritual actions are accompanied by traditional prayers and songs.
"Vapour baths were in use among the Celtic tribes, and the sweat-house was in general use in Ireland down to the 18th, and even survived into the 19th century. It was of beehive shape and was covered with clay. It was especially resorted to as a cure for rheumatism." These structures were built of stone, and square or corbelled "beehive" versions are often found, mostly in the Irish and Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland and Scotland, though most seem of relatively recent date. The method of construction, heating the structure, and usage was different from the North American examples, and they seem to have been regarded as therapeutic in function, like the sauna, and perhaps typically used by one person at a time, given their small size.
Native Americans in many regions employ the sweat lodge. For example, Chumash peoples of the central coast of California build sweat lodges in coastal areas in association with habitation sites.
When Finnish immigrants came to America in the 17th century, local Delaware natives called them "sweat lodge men" or "white-men-like-us" because of their habit of going to sauna. Because of that, the Finns got along with native peoples so their houses were not destroyed in the French and Indian Wars.
"Vapour baths were in use among the Celtic tribes, and the sweat-house was in general use in Ireland down to the 18th, and even survived into the 19th century. It was of beehive shape and was covered with clay. It was especially resorted to as a cure for rheumatism." These structures were built of stone, and square or corbelled "beehive" versions are often found, mostly in the Irish and Gaelic-speaking areas of Ireland and Scotland, though most seem of relatively recent date. The method of construction, heating the structure, and usage was different from the North American examples, and they seem to have been regarded as therapeutic in function, like the sauna, and perhaps typically used by one person at a time, given their small size.
Native Americans in many regions employ the sweat lodge. For example, Chumash peoples of the central coast of California build sweat lodges in coastal areas in association with habitation sites.
When Finnish immigrants came to America in the 17th century, local Delaware natives called them "sweat lodge men" or "white-men-like-us" because of their habit of going to sauna. Because of that, the Finns got along with native peoples so their houses were not destroyed in the French and Indian Wars.
History: America Temazcal
A temazcal [temasˈkal] is a type of sweat lodge which originated with pre-Hispanic Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica. The word temazcal comes from the Nahuatl word temāzcalli [temaːsˈkalːi] ("house of heat"), or possibly from the Aztec teme (to bathe) and calli (house). Temazcal in English is also written as temezcal, temascal, or temescal.
In ancient Mesoamerica it was used as part of a curative ceremony thought to purify the body after exertion such as after a battle or a ceremonial ball game. It was also used for healing the sick, improving health, and for women to give birth. It continues to be used today in Indigenous cultures of Mexico and Central America that were part of the ancient Mesoamerican region for spiritual and health reasons. It is currently being recovered by all sectors of society in that part of the world and is used as a cleansing of mind, body and spirit.
The sweatlodge in Mesoamerica is usually a permanent structure, unlike in other regions. The temazcal is usually constructed from volcanic rock and cement and is usually a circular dome, although rectangular ones have been found at certain archeological sites and this shape is also used. To produce the heat, volcanic stones are heated. Volcanic stones are safe because they do not explode from the temperature. They are then placed in a pit located in the center or near a wall of the temazcal.
History: Rome Thermae (Cultural Significance)
The baths often included, aside from the three main rooms listed above, a palaestra, or outdoor gymnasium where men would engage in various ball games and exercises. There, among other things, weights were lifted and the discus thrown. Men would oil themselves (as soap was still a luxury good and thus not widely available) and shower. Often wealthy bathers would bring a slave that carried his master's towels, oils, and strigils to the baths and then watched over them once in the baths, as thieves and pickpockets were known to frequent the baths.
In many ways, baths were the ancient Roman equivalent of community centres. Because the bathing process took so long, conversation was necessary. Many Romans would use the baths as a place to invite their friends to dinner parties, and many politicians would go to the baths to convince fellow Romans to join their causes. The thermae had many attributes in addition to the baths. There were libraries, rooms for poetry readings, and places to buy and eat food. The modern equivalent would be a combination of a library, art gallery, mall, restaurant, gym, and spa.
The Romans believed that good health came from bathing, eating, massages, and exercise. The baths, therefore, had all of these things in abundance. Since some citizens would be bathing multiple times a week, Roman society was surprisingly clean.
Emperors often built baths to gain favor for themselves and to create a lasting monument of their generosity. If a rich Roman wished to gain the favor of the people, he might arrange for a free admission day in his name. For example, a senator hoping to become a Tribune might pay all admission fees at a particular bath on his birthday to become well known to the people of the area.
In many ways, baths were the ancient Roman equivalent of community centres. Because the bathing process took so long, conversation was necessary. Many Romans would use the baths as a place to invite their friends to dinner parties, and many politicians would go to the baths to convince fellow Romans to join their causes. The thermae had many attributes in addition to the baths. There were libraries, rooms for poetry readings, and places to buy and eat food. The modern equivalent would be a combination of a library, art gallery, mall, restaurant, gym, and spa.
The Romans believed that good health came from bathing, eating, massages, and exercise. The baths, therefore, had all of these things in abundance. Since some citizens would be bathing multiple times a week, Roman society was surprisingly clean.
Emperors often built baths to gain favor for themselves and to create a lasting monument of their generosity. If a rich Roman wished to gain the favor of the people, he might arrange for a free admission day in his name. For example, a senator hoping to become a Tribune might pay all admission fees at a particular bath on his birthday to become well known to the people of the area.
History: Rome Thermae (Structure)
Plan of the Old Baths at Pompeii
A public bath was built around three principal rooms: the caldarium (hot bath), the tepidarium (warm bath) and the frigidarium (cold bath). Some thermae also featured steam bath, a moist steam bath, a dry steam bath much like a modern sauna.
By way of illustration, this article will describe the layout of Pompeii's Old Baths adjoining the forum, which are among some of the best-preserved Roman baths.
The whole building comprises a double set of baths, one for men and the other for women. It has six different entrances from the street, one of which gives admission to the smaller women's set only. Five other entrances lead to the men's department, of which two, communicate directly with the furnaces, and the other three with the bathing apartments.
Atrium
Passing through the principal entrance, which is removed from the street by a narrow footway surrounding the building and after descending three steps, the bather finds a small chamber which contained a water closet (latrina), and proceeds into a covered portico, which ran round three sides of an open court. These together formed the vestibule of the bath, in which the servants waited.
Use of the atrium
This atrium was the exercise ground for the young men, or perhaps served as a promenade for visitors to the baths. Within this court the keeper of the baths (balneator), who exacted the quadrans paid by each visitor, was also stationed. One room, which runs back from the portico, might have been appropriated to him; but most probably it was an oecus or exedra, for the convenience of the better classes while awaiting the return of their acquaintances from the interior. In this court, advertisements for the theatre, or other announcements of general interest, were posted up. At the sides of the entrance were seats (scholae).
Apodyterium
A passage (s) leads into the apodyterium, a room for undressing in which all visitors must have met before entering the baths proper. Here, the bathers removed their clothing, which was taken in charge by slaves known as capsarii, notorious in ancient times for their dishonesty. The apodyterium was a spacious chamber, with stone seats along two sides of the wall. Holes are still visible on the walls, and probably mark the places where the pegs for the bathers' clothes were set. The chamber was lighted by a glass window, and had six doors. One of these led to the tepidarium and another to the frigidarium, with its cold plunge-bath.
Tepidarium
From the frigidarium the bather who wished to go through the warm bath and sweating process entered the tepidarium. It did not contain water either at Pompeii or at the baths of Hippias, but was merely heated with warm air of an agreeable temperature, in order to prepare the body for the great heat of the vapor and warm baths, and, upon returning, to prevent a too-sudden transition to the open air. In the baths at Pompeii this chamber also served as an apodyterium for those who took the warm bath. The walls feature a number of separate compartments or recesses for receiving the garments when taken off. The compartments are divided from each other by figures of the kind called Atlantes or Telamones, which project from the walls and support a rich cornice above them.
Three bronze benches were also found in the room, which was heated as well by its contiguity to the hypocaust of the adjoining chamber, as by a brazier of bronze (foculus), in which the charcoal ashes were still remaining when the excavation was made.
The tepidarium is generally the most highly ornamented room in baths. It was merely a room to sit in and be anointed in. In the Old Baths at Pompeii the floor is mosaic, the arched ceiling adorned with stucco and painting on a coloured ground, the walls red.
Anointing was performed by slaves called unctores and aliptae. It sometimes took place before going to the hot bath, and sometimes after the cold bath, before putting on the clothes, in order to check the perspiration. Some baths had a special room (destrictarium or unctorium) for this purpose.
Caldarium
From the tepidarium a door opened into the caldarium , whose mosaic floor was directly above the furnace or hypocaust. Its walls also were hollow, forming a great flue filled with heated air. At one end was a round basin (labrum), and at the other a quadrangular bathingplace (puelos, alveus, solium, calida piscina), approached from the platform (schola) by steps. The labrum held cold water, for pouring upon the bather's head before he left the room. These basins are of marble in the Old Baths, but also made of alvei of solid silver. Because of the great heat of the room, the caldarium was but slightly ornamented.
Service
The apodyterium has a passage communicating with the mouth of the furnace, called praefurnium or propigneum; and, passing down that passage, we reach the chamber, into which the praefurnium projects, and which is entered from the street at. It was assigned to the fornacatores, or persons in charge of the fires. Of its two staircases, one leads to the roof of the baths, and one to the boilers containing the water.
There were three boilers, one of which (caldarium vas) held the hot water; a second, the tepid (tepidarium); and the third, the cold (frigidarium). The warm water was turned into the warm bath by a pipe through the wall, marked on the plan. Underneath the hot chamber was set the circular furnace, of more than 7 ft. in diameter, which heated the water and poured hot air into the hollow cells of the hypocaustum. It passed from the furnace under the first and last of the caldrons by two flues, which are marked on the plan. The boiler containing hot water was placed immediately over the furnace; and, as the water was drawn out from there, it was supplied from the next, the tepidarium, which was raised a little higher and stood a little way off from the furnace. It was already considerably heated from its contiguity to the furnace and the hypocaust below it, so that it supplied the deficiency of the former without materially diminishing its temperature; and the vacuum in this last was again filled up from the farthest removed, which contained the cold water received directly from the square reservoir seen behind them. The boilers themselves no longer remain, but the impressions which they have left in the mortar in which they were imbedded are clearly visible, and enable us to determine their respective positions and dimensions. Such coppers or boilers appear to have been called miliaria, from their similarity of shape to a milestone. Behind the boilers, another corridor leads into the court or atrium appropriated to the servants of the bath.
Women's bath
The adjoining, smaller set of baths were assigned to the women. The entrance is by the door, which conducts into a small vestibule and from there into the apodyterium, which, like the one in the men's bath, has a seat (pulvinus, gradus) on either side built up against the wall. This opens upon a cold bath, answering to the natatio of the men's set, but of much smaller dimensions. There are four steps on the inside to descend into it.
Opposite to the door of entrance into the apodyterium is another doorway which leads to the tepidarium, which also communicates with the thermal chamber, on one side of which is a warm bath in a square recess, and at the farther extremity the labrum. The floor of this chamber is suspended, and its walls perforated for flues, like the corresponding one in the men's baths. The tepidarium in the women's baths had no brazier, but it had a hanging or suspended floor.
A public bath was built around three principal rooms: the caldarium (hot bath), the tepidarium (warm bath) and the frigidarium (cold bath). Some thermae also featured steam bath, a moist steam bath, a dry steam bath much like a modern sauna.
By way of illustration, this article will describe the layout of Pompeii's Old Baths adjoining the forum, which are among some of the best-preserved Roman baths.
The whole building comprises a double set of baths, one for men and the other for women. It has six different entrances from the street, one of which gives admission to the smaller women's set only. Five other entrances lead to the men's department, of which two, communicate directly with the furnaces, and the other three with the bathing apartments.
Atrium
Passing through the principal entrance, which is removed from the street by a narrow footway surrounding the building and after descending three steps, the bather finds a small chamber which contained a water closet (latrina), and proceeds into a covered portico, which ran round three sides of an open court. These together formed the vestibule of the bath, in which the servants waited.
Use of the atrium
This atrium was the exercise ground for the young men, or perhaps served as a promenade for visitors to the baths. Within this court the keeper of the baths (balneator), who exacted the quadrans paid by each visitor, was also stationed. One room, which runs back from the portico, might have been appropriated to him; but most probably it was an oecus or exedra, for the convenience of the better classes while awaiting the return of their acquaintances from the interior. In this court, advertisements for the theatre, or other announcements of general interest, were posted up. At the sides of the entrance were seats (scholae).
Apodyterium
A passage (s) leads into the apodyterium, a room for undressing in which all visitors must have met before entering the baths proper. Here, the bathers removed their clothing, which was taken in charge by slaves known as capsarii, notorious in ancient times for their dishonesty. The apodyterium was a spacious chamber, with stone seats along two sides of the wall. Holes are still visible on the walls, and probably mark the places where the pegs for the bathers' clothes were set. The chamber was lighted by a glass window, and had six doors. One of these led to the tepidarium and another to the frigidarium, with its cold plunge-bath.
Tepidarium
From the frigidarium the bather who wished to go through the warm bath and sweating process entered the tepidarium. It did not contain water either at Pompeii or at the baths of Hippias, but was merely heated with warm air of an agreeable temperature, in order to prepare the body for the great heat of the vapor and warm baths, and, upon returning, to prevent a too-sudden transition to the open air. In the baths at Pompeii this chamber also served as an apodyterium for those who took the warm bath. The walls feature a number of separate compartments or recesses for receiving the garments when taken off. The compartments are divided from each other by figures of the kind called Atlantes or Telamones, which project from the walls and support a rich cornice above them.
Three bronze benches were also found in the room, which was heated as well by its contiguity to the hypocaust of the adjoining chamber, as by a brazier of bronze (foculus), in which the charcoal ashes were still remaining when the excavation was made.
The tepidarium is generally the most highly ornamented room in baths. It was merely a room to sit in and be anointed in. In the Old Baths at Pompeii the floor is mosaic, the arched ceiling adorned with stucco and painting on a coloured ground, the walls red.
Anointing was performed by slaves called unctores and aliptae. It sometimes took place before going to the hot bath, and sometimes after the cold bath, before putting on the clothes, in order to check the perspiration. Some baths had a special room (destrictarium or unctorium) for this purpose.
Caldarium
From the tepidarium a door opened into the caldarium , whose mosaic floor was directly above the furnace or hypocaust. Its walls also were hollow, forming a great flue filled with heated air. At one end was a round basin (labrum), and at the other a quadrangular bathingplace (puelos, alveus, solium, calida piscina), approached from the platform (schola) by steps. The labrum held cold water, for pouring upon the bather's head before he left the room. These basins are of marble in the Old Baths, but also made of alvei of solid silver. Because of the great heat of the room, the caldarium was but slightly ornamented.
Service
The apodyterium has a passage communicating with the mouth of the furnace, called praefurnium or propigneum; and, passing down that passage, we reach the chamber, into which the praefurnium projects, and which is entered from the street at. It was assigned to the fornacatores, or persons in charge of the fires. Of its two staircases, one leads to the roof of the baths, and one to the boilers containing the water.
There were three boilers, one of which (caldarium vas) held the hot water; a second, the tepid (tepidarium); and the third, the cold (frigidarium). The warm water was turned into the warm bath by a pipe through the wall, marked on the plan. Underneath the hot chamber was set the circular furnace, of more than 7 ft. in diameter, which heated the water and poured hot air into the hollow cells of the hypocaustum. It passed from the furnace under the first and last of the caldrons by two flues, which are marked on the plan. The boiler containing hot water was placed immediately over the furnace; and, as the water was drawn out from there, it was supplied from the next, the tepidarium, which was raised a little higher and stood a little way off from the furnace. It was already considerably heated from its contiguity to the furnace and the hypocaust below it, so that it supplied the deficiency of the former without materially diminishing its temperature; and the vacuum in this last was again filled up from the farthest removed, which contained the cold water received directly from the square reservoir seen behind them. The boilers themselves no longer remain, but the impressions which they have left in the mortar in which they were imbedded are clearly visible, and enable us to determine their respective positions and dimensions. Such coppers or boilers appear to have been called miliaria, from their similarity of shape to a milestone. Behind the boilers, another corridor leads into the court or atrium appropriated to the servants of the bath.
Women's bath
The adjoining, smaller set of baths were assigned to the women. The entrance is by the door, which conducts into a small vestibule and from there into the apodyterium, which, like the one in the men's bath, has a seat (pulvinus, gradus) on either side built up against the wall. This opens upon a cold bath, answering to the natatio of the men's set, but of much smaller dimensions. There are four steps on the inside to descend into it.
Opposite to the door of entrance into the apodyterium is another doorway which leads to the tepidarium, which also communicates with the thermal chamber, on one side of which is a warm bath in a square recess, and at the farther extremity the labrum. The floor of this chamber is suspended, and its walls perforated for flues, like the corresponding one in the men's baths. The tepidarium in the women's baths had no brazier, but it had a hanging or suspended floor.
History: Rome Thermae (Introduction)
In ancient Rome, Thermae (from Greek thermos, "hot") and balnea were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome.
Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centers not only for bathing, but socializing. Roman bath-houses were also provided for private villas, town houses, and forts. They were supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream, or more normally, by an aqueduct. The water would be heated by a log fire before being channeled into the hot bathing rooms.
Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centers not only for bathing, but socializing. Roman bath-houses were also provided for private villas, town houses, and forts. They were supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream, or more normally, by an aqueduct. The water would be heated by a log fire before being channeled into the hot bathing rooms.
History: Islamic Hamam (Purpose)
Aside from treating oneself to the pleasure of bathing and chat, people went to the hamam for religious cleansing. Before one would don new clothes, after a long journey, a convalescence, or release from prison--these were good reasons to clean up and check in with Allah.
The hamam was so much a part of town social life that even the wealthy, who usually owned private baths, frequented them. They chose public bathing to show the town they were clean. Although the baths were usually built under the auspices of church or government, they were often constructed by wealthy individuals as well.
When a new bath was opened, a herald proclaimed the news that the bath would be free to everyone for the first three days.
Massage attendants rubbed their hands with pomegranate peel to harden them and give them a pleasant scent. Attendants also made sure no beans or peas were eaten in the hamam, no lepers were allowed inside, and anyone revealing a peek at his private parts was ejected. Not only was the hammam pleasurable, but it also brought luck as this old adage claims: "Whoever goes to the bath on forty consecutive Wednesdays will succeed at anything they do."
The hamam was so much a part of town social life that even the wealthy, who usually owned private baths, frequented them. They chose public bathing to show the town they were clean. Although the baths were usually built under the auspices of church or government, they were often constructed by wealthy individuals as well.
When a new bath was opened, a herald proclaimed the news that the bath would be free to everyone for the first three days.
Massage attendants rubbed their hands with pomegranate peel to harden them and give them a pleasant scent. Attendants also made sure no beans or peas were eaten in the hamam, no lepers were allowed inside, and anyone revealing a peek at his private parts was ejected. Not only was the hammam pleasurable, but it also brought luck as this old adage claims: "Whoever goes to the bath on forty consecutive Wednesdays will succeed at anything they do."
History: Islamic Hamam (Structure)
The hamam developed into a quiet retreat--an atmosphere of half-light, quiescence and seclusion. Architecturally, vaulted ceilings shrank as the buildings became smaller and modest. While the Romans built enormous central baths, the Arabs preferred several small baths throughout their cities. They still followed a progression through a series of hot rooms as in the thermae, but with different emphasis.
In the hamam the Roman dwindled to a mere passageway leading from dressing room to hot room where, unlike the Roman caldarium, special massages were administered. While the Roman bather finished with a stay in the library or study, the hamam bather ends where he or she began, lounging on couches in the rest hall while servants bring drinks and cool the bather with fans.
The hypocaust heating systems remained, but in some regions Arabs followed the Roman example of utilizing heat from their many hot springs. These hamams, called kaplica or ilica, have no sweat platform in the center of the hottest room. Instead, a pool of natural hot water heats the hamam. Because the water bubbled and flowed, the Arabs could take a dip in those pools without bathing in their own filth.
Like the Roman baths, the hamam became a place to socialize. "Your town is only a perfect town when there is a bath in it," said Abu Sir, an early Arab historian. To promote the local hamam, entrance fees were so low everyone could enjoy them. "I leave it to the bather," said a caliph in A Thousand and One Nights, "to pay according to his rank."
The baths were one of the few places in Islam open to everyone from early morning to late night, and sometimes longer.
Order and cleanliness were essential to the hamams, so certain customs, enforced by law, were established. The police inspector was given the task of seeing that the baths were washed frequently, which entailed scrubbing the stone surfaces with a hard instrument to remove dirt and slippery traces of soap. The inspector also checked the quality of the water. Aside from cleaning the place, the attendants burned incense twice a day for purification. The hamam was required to be fully prepared before dawn so people could bathe before Morning Prayer.
In the hamam the Roman dwindled to a mere passageway leading from dressing room to hot room where, unlike the Roman caldarium, special massages were administered. While the Roman bather finished with a stay in the library or study, the hamam bather ends where he or she began, lounging on couches in the rest hall while servants bring drinks and cool the bather with fans.
The hypocaust heating systems remained, but in some regions Arabs followed the Roman example of utilizing heat from their many hot springs. These hamams, called kaplica or ilica, have no sweat platform in the center of the hottest room. Instead, a pool of natural hot water heats the hamam. Because the water bubbled and flowed, the Arabs could take a dip in those pools without bathing in their own filth.
Like the Roman baths, the hamam became a place to socialize. "Your town is only a perfect town when there is a bath in it," said Abu Sir, an early Arab historian. To promote the local hamam, entrance fees were so low everyone could enjoy them. "I leave it to the bather," said a caliph in A Thousand and One Nights, "to pay according to his rank."
The baths were one of the few places in Islam open to everyone from early morning to late night, and sometimes longer.
Order and cleanliness were essential to the hamams, so certain customs, enforced by law, were established. The police inspector was given the task of seeing that the baths were washed frequently, which entailed scrubbing the stone surfaces with a hard instrument to remove dirt and slippery traces of soap. The inspector also checked the quality of the water. Aside from cleaning the place, the attendants burned incense twice a day for purification. The hamam was required to be fully prepared before dawn so people could bathe before Morning Prayer.
History: Islamic Hamam (Introduction)
Muhammad believed that the heat of the hamam (which in Arabic means "spreader of warmth") enhanced fertility, and the followers of the faith should multiply. Until the hammam caught Muhammed's fancy, the Arabs used only cold water and never bathed in tubs, which was considered as bathing in one's own filth. But when the conquering Arabs encountered Roman and Greek baths in Syria, holy men immediately adopted the pleasure of hot air bathing (perhaps to compensate for the joys of alcohol forbidden by their faith).
As the Arabs picked up foreign bathing habits, they were quick to tailor them to their own ways. The hamam gained religious significance and became an annex to the mosque, used to comply with the Islamic laws of hygiene and purification. Physical and intellectual development was deemphasized, and only the massage remained.
Once the delight of the warm water sunk in, the cold water bath or shower after sweating no longer appealed to the Arabs.
As the Arabs picked up foreign bathing habits, they were quick to tailor them to their own ways. The hamam gained religious significance and became an annex to the mosque, used to comply with the Islamic laws of hygiene and purification. Physical and intellectual development was deemphasized, and only the massage remained.
Once the delight of the warm water sunk in, the cold water bath or shower after sweating no longer appealed to the Arabs.
History: Turkish Bath (Structure)
A typical hamam consists of three basic, interconnected rooms: the sıcaklık, which is the hot room; the warm room (tepidarium), which is the intermediate room; and the soğukluk, which is the cool room. The main evolutionary change between Roman baths and Turkish baths concerns the cool room.
The hot room (sıcaklık)
Purpose: soaking up steam and getting scrub massages
Features:
- a large dome decorated with small glass windows that create a half-light
- contains a large marble stone called göbek taşı (tummy stone) at the center that the customers lie on,
- niches with fountains in the corners
Warm room (tepidarium)
Purpose: washing up with soap and water
Cool room (soğukluk)
Purpose: relax, dress up, have a refreshing drink, sometimes tea, and, where available, a nap in a private cubicle after the massage. A few of the hammams in Istanbul also contain ritual cleansing baths for Jewish women.
Hamam complexes usually contain separate quarters for men and women; or males and females are admitted at separate times. Because they were social centers as well as baths, hamams became numerous during the time of the Ottoman Empire and were built in almost every Ottoman city. On many occasions they became places of entertainment (e.g. dancing and food, especially in the women's quarters) and ceremonies, such as before weddings, high-holidays, celebrating newborns, beauty trips.
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