International Bath Day (14/06)

Among the holidays that do not have official status, there are also those where the date of celebration remains open to this day. One of these holidays was International Bath Day.

The history of the appearance of this holiday is connected with the desire of workers, as well as bathhouse builders, to establish their own professional holiday, which is also associated with the deep cultural Slavic tradition of – bath days.

The Russian tradition of bath days – is a whole ritual, incomprehensible for many modern people, and sometimes even frightening for foreigners. However, the bath tradition is not just about washing. From time immemorial, the bathhouse in Rus' has been a place of ablution, akin to purification. Therefore, it is not surprising that the bath day fell on Saturday, when by Sunday service people woke up pure not only in body, but also in soul.

After all, the bathhouse made it possible not just to wash the body. She gave a feeling of calm and rest. Leaving the bathhouse and traditional tea drinking in the evening gave the person an incredible feeling of relaxation, similar to peace. Since ancient times, the bathhouse has also been a place of healing, when various types of brooms were parked in decoctions and infusions of herbs. In the steam room, a person could recover from a cold, relax muscles strained after hard work, calm the nervous system, cleanse the skin, etc. In fact, the bathhouse was one of the means of hardening, prevention of respiratory diseases, diseases of the skin and musculoskeletal system, and a means of relaxation. The culture of visiting the bathhouse was instilled from childhood and contraindications to bath procedures were rare.

There are different points of view on the Internet regarding the date of celebration of International Bath Day. According to one, it is proposed to celebrate it annually on June 14, timed to coincide with the day of remembrance of the holy healer Agapit Pechersky, who, according to legend, used a bathhouse as one of the means of treatment. Another view holds that the bath day should be celebrated on 6 July, the day of Agrafena the Swimsuit (Bather). On this day in Rus', among other things, the procurement of brooms for a year began.

In 2007, the Union of Bathhouse Workers of Russia even appealed to the State Duma with a proposal to establish a professional holiday – Bathhouse Handler Day with the aim of reviving the bath tradition and popularizing it among Russians. However, at the moment this initiative remains unresolved, despite the fact that it was supported by the leader of the LDPR V.V. Zhirinovsky.

In 2009, on October 11, an attempt was made in Odessa to establish a bath day as part of the then meeting of representatives of the bathing business of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Despite the fact that the International Bath Art Association (IABI), created at that time, no longer actually exists, there remains another date established by the decision of this association as International Bath Day – on October 11.

So it turns out that until the official day of the bathhouse attendant appears, it can be celebrated three times a year: June 14, July 6 and October 11. Well, this holiday will obviously have an unofficial international status for a very long time.



Postcard «9 January — Russian Bath Day» Story «The horror of the Evpraksin baths»

1962