Russian sauna - special features & the heat level

The Russian sauna is called a banya and has been used as such for centuries. Here the sexes sauna strictly separately, which works via different visiting times or different facilities. The health effects of the Russian sauna are, as with the "normal" sauna, the improvement of blood circulation and the performance of the immune system, but the way of taking a sauna differs.

Temperatures in the Russian sauna

The Russian sauna is much hotter, however, and the temperatures here can reach well over 100 °C.

In a banya, sauna lovers heat with a wood-burning sauna stove - other variants are out of the question. However, the Russian sauna is much hotter, and temperatures can reach well over 100 °C. By way of comparison, the Finnish sauna usually reaches a maximum of 80 °C, but it uses more infusions. But even in the banya, infusions take place in which hot water mixed with essential oils is poured onto the sauna stones. This significantly increases the humidity and the heat is perceived as even more effective. For many sauna visitors, this means a fair amount of getting used to, as the intense heat is an enormous strain on the cardiovascular system.

Structure of the Russian sauna

The banya consists of a wooden cabin, which is comparable to the usual sauna. Usually, the Russian sauna consists of several compartments: Thus, there is a washing room, a sweating room and a relaxation room. The washing room is considered an elementary component: here, sauna-goers scrub themselves with water from wooden vats, although this water does not necessarily have to be heated. The used water is drained outside via a gutter. The wood-burning stove is also fired from the washroom. Sometimes the recreation room and the washing room are in the same room, but the wood stove is always fired from the washing area.

Other special features of the banya

By the way, the banya is used as a typical meeting place for business talks - many cooperations and projects have already come about in the Russian sauna.

The Russian sauna is not only much hotter than the Finnish version, but the visitors can become active here themselves - this is, however, again comparable to the Finnish sauna. Sauna guests lightly beat themselves or other visitors with the "wenik", which are leafy birch twigs that have previously been soaked in water. The so-called quästen is used as a massage. It is important that the birch twigs actually still have leaves, otherwise the quaffing becomes very painful. Therefore, sauna lovers use fresh twigs directly from the trees in summer, whereas dried twigs are used in winter. The water from soaking the birch twigs is used as an infusion - in fact, it is the most popular sauna infusion in the banya. This birch water infusion is followed on the popularity scale by beer - alcohol as a typical Russian variant. It's no coincidence that vodka is used for the infusions. Of course, no one comes back from a sauna completely befuddled!


In the Russian sauna, the guests are naked - hence the strict separation of the sexes. After the last sauna session or between the individual courses, the visitors go to the relaxation room. There they have a snack or drink beer or tea. Then they move on to the next session, or the relaxation break marks the end of the sauna visit.


Incidentally, the banya is used as a typical meeting place for business talks - many cooperations and projects have already come about in the Russian sauna.

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