"ban'ka" is dimunitive of "banya" - russian steam bath, sometimes called russian sauna

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Note added at 5 mins (2004-04-21 14:44:01 GMT)
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On the second thought, I would change the verb you\'ll TAKE russian steam bath there

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Note added at 9 mins (2004-04-21 14:48:34 GMT)
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http://www.middlebury.edu/depts/russian/studentlife/banya.ht...
The Russian banya is both a cultural tradition and a great escape from the rigors of academics. The weekly banya - or Russian sauna - was how people got clean before the advent of indoor plumbing and city life, and it has a rich folk history all its own. Russians still swear by its purifying effects, and so will you, after you\'ve sat by the hot stones and then had a roll in a snowbank.



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Note added at 3 hrs 47 mins (2004-04-21 18:26:10 GMT)
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В защиту варианта russian bath

http://russian-crafts.com/customs/russian-bath.html

As a rule Russian bath is build of logs stacked against each other, gaps between which were calked with moss. Initially baths were heated \"in a black way\", that is an oven was established directly in a steam room and the smoke left directly into the room.
Therefore walls in such bath were smoked. This way of heating was called \"in black way\".

Construction of a Russian bath differed much from a Roman term. First of all Russian bath was always made of wood and has no possible luxury and excesses. All was subordinated only to one thing - to bring into a healthy state. Second, the bath had only two rooms - a waiting room in which people undressed and had a rest in breaks between calls in a steam room, and a steam room. Such baths were built without drawings - all was held in a head and art of construction of bath was handed down. The choice of the place for the bath was important for construction. Choice of the place appropriate for a bath was made with the same scrupulousness as a choice of th place for a church.

In opposite to Roman terms where there were rooms with various temperatures, in Russian bath gradualness of warming up was reached by making some shelves at different height. The higher shelf was in zone with the hotter temperature.