3 Roubles RUSSIAN BATH

Part of the Bank of Russia's ongoing commemorative series celebrating traditional Russian culture, this issue marks the banya — the steam bathhouse that has functioned as a social and hygienic institution in Russian life for over a thousand years. The First Novgorod Chronicle references communal bathhouses as early as the 11th century, and by the 18th century Peter the Great had specifically exempted them from taxation, recognizing their role in public health during plague years.