MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sauna for Russia's main Antarctic base

Russia's Antarctic base Novola Sarevskaia where an Orthodox church was recently built will soon have a traditional “bania” sauna, reports Moscow's Vremia Novostei.

As with the church, the sauna will be made out of wood, but engineers will have to be particularly careful that no bacteria or fungi from relatively calm climates end contaminating the pristine Antarctic landscape.

According to the press the most insistent with the long established Russian tradition of the sauna were the residents of Novola Sarevskaia, Russia's most populated base.

The building to host the sauna will be 28.5 square meters, follow strictly the environmental protocol of 1961 and constructed avoiding accumulated condensation since under polar conditions the passage from ice to humid-hot temperatures could rapidly rot the wood lining. The construction must also resist the strong Antarctic winds and blizzards.

Novola Sarevskaia already has a small orthodox church in its traditional outlay, made out of Altai cedar and with the same precautions that are planned for the sauna.

The sauna building will be located close to the base's cemetery where 64 Russian explorers are buried.