The backstory of the creation of the baths was extremely romantic: the founder of the baths was a comic actor of Georgian origin
Sila Nikolaevich Sandunov (Silovan Zandukeli) was married to the dramatic actress and mezzo-soprano singer
Elizaveta Semyonovna Uranova, whom he took away out of mutual love from under the nose of one of the richest and most influential men of the empire, Count Bezborodko, who was in love with her. This story became widely known at court; to get rid of the persistent "courtship" of the elderly Count A. A. Bezborodko, who was obstructing her marriage to her beloved Sila Sandunov, she appealed for protection to Empress Catherine II right during a performance at the Hermitage Theatre. The Empress dismissed the theatre directors Khrapovitsky and Soymonov, who had been encouraging the old Count Bezborodko's claims.
The "Sandunov story" helped cement Catherine’s reputation as a kind-hearted and merciful sovereign, which was important against the backdrop of her harsh persecution of the mason-publisher N. I. Novikov, the freedom-loving writer A. N. Radishchev, and other dissenters. Among historians, there is an opinion that this theatrical exposure of the "villainous" directors, perfectly fitting the aesthetics of the emerging sentimentalism, took place if not on the initiative of the Empress, then with her knowledge. Pushkin depicted a similar scene in the novel "The Captain's Daughter." The wedding of Uranova and Sandunov took place on February 14, 1791, in the palace church, and the bride was "prepared for the altar" by the Empress herself.
The actors of Empress Catherine II’s court theatre, Sila Sandunov and Elizaveta Uranova, with the diamonds gifted to the bride on the occasion of the wedding by the Empress herself, purchased a plot of land by the Neglinnaya River in Moscow for the construction of residential quarters and shops. But soon their decision was changed in favor of building baths. Construction was completed in 1808.
He brought the first bath attendants from Tiflis (Tbilisi), known for its sulfur baths, so they could apply their experience in health restoration; they knew how to properly cleanse the body, massage, and restore health and strength. Since then, dynasties of bath attendants have served at Sanduny.
Moscow flocked to them, especially to the male and female "noble" sections, arranged with unprecedented comforts for Moscow: with a dressing room with mirrors, clean sheets on soft sofas, well-trained servants, experienced bath attendants and bath mistresses. The dressing room became a club where the most diverse society met — everyone found their circle of acquaintances there, and there was also a buffet with all kinds of drinks, from kvass to Moët & Chandon champagne. Both Griboyedov’s and Pushkin’s Moscow frequented these baths, the same Moscow that gathered in Zinaida Volkonskaya’s salon and the English Club.
The popularity of the baths grew year by year; they were completely preserved after the 1812 war, miraculously avoiding destruction in the fire of Moscow. However, this caused complications in the Sandunov family relations, who returned to live in Saint Petersburg after the war. Sandunov’s wife invested her considerable financial resources in this enterprise, whose success was now associated exclusively with her husband’s name. She was dissatisfied with this situation, quarrels began over the division of income and family expenses, and on this basis, the marriage broke up, and the baths passed into the ownership of Elizaveta Sandunova (Uranova), retaining their original name.
During the 19th century, the baths changed owners several times. In 1869, they were bought by merchant and homeowner Ivan Grigorievich Firsanov, and after his death in 1881, they passed to his only daughter, Vera Ivanovna Firsanova (after whom the Moscow suburb Firsanovka is named). Vera’s second husband was Alexey Ganetsky, son of General Nikolai Ganetsky. It was he who proposed building new baths on the site of the old ones after returning from a trip to baths across Europe, from Turkey to Ireland.
For the construction of the new baths in 1894, Ganetsky hired the famous architect Boris Freidenberg, but the capricious nature of the client forced Freidenberg to abandon the project halfway and leave Moscow.
The baths were completed by architect Sergey Kalugin (with the participation of Vladimir Chagin) and opened to the public on February 14, 1896.
The opening of the new Sanduny was a major event in Moscow’s social life. The name of the baths was kept the same, as it was widely known and had become a household name. The eclectic facades of the three-story palace with elements of Baroque, Rococo, Renaissance, Gothic, Classicism, and industrial style were presented to the public.
The interiors of the baths were lavishly decorated and could rival the best mansions in their furnishings. Materials brought from Europe were used in the decoration of the premises: Norwegian and Italian marble, tiles and floor tiles from England, Germany, Switzerland.
The new Sanduny became a model of the bath industry thanks to advanced engineering systems. At Sanduny, stoves are never fired during the day, yet the temperature in the steam rooms reaches 90 degrees Celsius. The secret lies in a brilliant engineering solution: the cast-iron stove at Sanduny weighs about 12 tons, with 9 to 11 tons accounted for by the heating part. Inside each stove, cast-iron castings are laid according to a special technology. They are all different in size and weight, each casting has its own place and function in the stove. The temperature inside the stove can reach 650 degrees Celsius. That is why the water that falls into the very epicenter of the cast-iron giant literally evaporates into the air, filling the steam room with the famous finely dispersed Sanduny steam. Such steam can only be obtained at a stove temperature above 500 degrees. Only the most powerful stove can maintain such a high temperature throughout the day without firing. And if the stove is not fired during the day, it means there is no combustion process, oxygen is not consumed, and it is easier to breathe in the steam room.
The baths took water through a special water pipeline from the Moscow River at the Babiegorodskaya dam and from a 700-foot artesian well. Electric lighting was powered by its own power station (in 1896, its electricity was borrowed to illuminate the coronation of Nicholas II). Up to four hundred bath attendants worked in the bath. In addition to the hotel and restaurants, Sanduny even had the "Zoological Shop of F. A. Achilles."
The bath sections were designed for people of different incomes and social status. Prices in the general sections ranged from 5 to 50 kopecks depending on the category. The numbered sections of Sanduny were famous throughout Moscow. The price category here was higher — from 60 kopecks to 5 rubles. The three most expensive rooms included five rooms: a dressing room, a living room, a boudoir, a bath, and a steam room. Five separate halls were equipped for those waiting their turn.
"Long before Ganetsky remodeled the Sanduny baths into a bath palace, A. P. Chekhov loved to visit the old Sanduny baths, cozy, without luxury and unnecessary flashy tinsel," testifies V. A. Gilyarovsky in his book "Moscow and Muscovites." From May to November 1902, Chekhov and his wife rented an apartment at 14 Neglinnaya, near Sanduny. In those years, famous actors and writers, high-ranking officials could be met in the public baths. Lev Tolstoy, Rachmaninoff, Eisenstein, and even the grand dukes Romanov bathed and steamed there.
The all-powerful "master of the capital" — military governor-general V. A. Dolgorukov — went to the Sanduny baths, where silver basins and buckets were served to him in the luxurious family section room. And yet his palace had marble baths, which were still rare in Moscow at that time!
Actors from the best theaters came to bathe in the Sanduny baths’ pool, including the almost centenarian actor whom Korsh received as a sign of respect for his age. This was Ivan Alekseevich Grigorovsky. He carefully came daily to bathe in the pool earlier than anyone else…
In addition, the baths were visited by Vladimir Dolgorukov, Gavrila Solodovnikov. Fyodor Chaliapin wrote to a friend: "Our dear Moscow! Incomparable!.. Our good cannot be compared to anything… It is tiring, hard, and I feel as if I am doing penal labor… There is no talk of merry days, the only entertainment is the Turkish bath — of course, not our native one. I especially clearly remember how we bathed in Sanduny and ate sterlet fish soup, remember?"
Chaliapin called Sanduny the "Tsar Bath," admiring its huge halls, high vaults, stucco, marble staircases, golden painting, and statues.
In Soviet times, Sanduny continued to hold the title of the best baths in Moscow. However, careless operation gradually led to significant damage to their internal systems and facades. The first major renovation was carried out in 1944. It affected the interior decoration and technical systems. Additional conveniences corresponding to that time were also introduced.
As a service, "family rooms" continued to exist, where visitors of different sexes were allowed, as described in Abram Tertz’s (Andrei Sinyavsky’s) story "At the Circus" (1955). The bath complex consists of several buildings on Neglinnaya. The Firsanova revenue house on the red line of Neglinnaya Street with a Moorish courtyard (buildings 1 and 2) is now occupied by a branch of the VTB bank. The other buildings of the "bath quarter" are still used for their original purpose.
The oldest baths in the capital are recognized as an architectural and engineering marvel and, by order of the Moscow Government, Sanduny baths have been taken under state protection as a unique cultural heritage site.
Various films were shot in different parts of the Sanduny baths:
"Battleship Potemkin" The great director Sergei Eisenstein simulated a storm on the Black Sea for the silent historical feature film "Battleship Potemkin" right in the antique pool of Sanduny.
"Alexander Nevsky," the scene of the Ice Battle in Eisenstein’s film "Alexander Nevsky" was also filmed at Sanduny: knights went under the artificial ice of the same pool.
"The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!" (the film includes a retake of the episode, later filmed in Mosfilm studios) "The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!" Many already know that the scenes where Zhenya Lukashin celebrated New Year with friends at Sanduny were actually shot in the "aquarium" pavilion of Mosfilm. In short, contrary to popular belief, the bath scenes were not filmed at Sanduny but at the Mosfilm studio. So, from the real bath in the pavilion, there were only two barrels of beer and potted palms in the frame. The interior of Sanduny was recreated in the studio’s basement. Some props — barrels of beer and palms — were borrowed from Sanduny, but benches and glass blocks were brought to the set from the studio lobby.
"Old New Year" (the heroes’ exit from the bath)
"The Master and Margarita" director Yuri Kara filmed the Satan’s ball scene in the luxurious halls of Sanduny for the film "The Master and Margarita."
"Brother 2"
"Maroseyka, 12" (film 4 — "Son")
"Oligarch" (scene with generals)
"White Gold"
"State Counsellor" (scene in the pool with a room)
"You to Me, I to You" (the workplace of the main character Ivan Kashkin)
"Born by the Revolution" (episode 8 — "Werewolves," scene where policeman Sanko catches a bath attendant photographing his notebook and new ID)
"Karamora" (episode 4 — opening scene and main fight at the end of the episode)
"What Men Talk About. Continuation" (in the pool)
"Bihappy" (TV series)
"Sergius of Radonezh" (in the pool — scene of robbers attacking a raft)
"Fighters: The Last Battle"
"Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow" 1994
"Lovers" 2022
"Khrustalyov, My Car!" 1998
Dolls. Episode 136 "On Sexual Education at School." Filmed in the highest category washing section.
Sources:
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Сандуновские_бани
https://msk.sanduny.ru/obshchestvennye-razryady
https://moskvichmag.ru/gorod/moskovskaya-legenda-sanduny/
https://author.today/post/76201: Sanduny Baths, Author: Alena Izmailova
