THE SCENE: This medieval description of a Slavic sauna starts out sounding relaxing, and then quickly pivots to horrific.
THE TEXT: “I saw the land of the Slavs, and while I was among them, I noticed their wooden bathhouses. They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with an acid liquid, they take young branches and lash their bodies. They actually lash themselves so violently that they barely escape alive. Then they drench themselves with cold water, and thus are revived. They think nothing of doing this every day, and though tormented by none, they actually inflict such voluntary torture upon themselves. Indeed, they make of the act not a mere washing but a veritable torment.”
– Tales of Bygone Years, Nestor, 12th Century AD
[Image Credit: In a Russian Banya by Vitaly Tikhov]
