During my journey through the Slavic lands, likely in Novgorod, I witnessed an astonishing sight. There, I saw wooden baths that are heated intensely. People strip completely naked, pour leather kvass over themselves, and begin to whip themselves with young twigs. They do this until they are exhausted and barely crawl out of the bath to douse themselves with cold water and regain their strength. They do this constantly, not out of compulsion, but of their own volition, considering it a cleansing rather than a torment.

In the treaty of Oleg the Wise with Byzantium in 907, the second clause stipulated that Russian merchants arriving in Constantinople could use the baths as much as they wanted. In the chronicle for the year 945, the bath, called "istobka," is mentioned in connection with Olga's revenge on the Drevlians' envoys, whom she ordered to be bathed and then burned inside.

The rules of the Stoglav Cathedral of 1551, following Byzantine canons, prohibited the joint washing of men and women. However, in Russia, these church prohibitions were often ignored. For Europeans of that time, the Russian communal baths seemed indecent and wild due to the joint washing of men and women.

Here are the oldest Russian baths in New York.