The history of Moscow’s most famous baths began with the names Sila Sandunov and Yelizaveta Uranova, actors at the court of Empress Catherine the Great. After the two were married, the empress presented the couple with diamonds which Sandunov sold. With the money, he bought a land plot near the Neglinnaya River in Moscow. Later, he bought his neighbors’ land plots and knocked down all the buildings there to construct baths. The construction was completed in 1808.