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Healthful steam
baths (hamam) have been
popular in Turkey for thousands of
years,
many of them
surviving from Hellenic and Roman times.
The Ottomans perfected
the hamam, or Turkish
bath which, like the Roman bath, had
three rooms: the grand, steamy hot room (caldarium) for
steam-soaking and massage; the warm room (tepidarium) for
washing with soap and water; and the cool room for
resting or napping (perhaps in a private
cubicle) after the bath with a cup
of Turkish
coffee or a glass
of tea.
Hamams were social centers,
and the only baths in Turkey until
the mid-20th century when western-style
tub-bath-and-shower plumbing began
to be accepted.
Today modern Turks may shower in the
morning before going to the office,
but many still reserve time for a weekly
steam-and-scrub at a hamam, a
good drying-off with Turkish
towels, followed by an hour's relaxation,
tea, and conversation with friends—one
of life's small but significant pleasures.
When you travel to Turkey, you should
experience a Turkish bath. Every Turkish
town still has at least one hamam,
and cities have many. Most are simple
and functional, but the historic hamams—especially
those built by the sultans to serve
their imperial mosques—are beautiful
works of Ottoman
architecture made of fine marble
with rich decoration.
Here
are tips for women at Turkish
baths.
For more on the hamam experience,
read my article "Taking
Tea in Turkey."
To take your steam bath experience
to a higher level, see Thermal
Spa Resorts in Turkey.
Favorite hamams for foreign visitors
to Istanbul include these:
Çemberlitaş
Hamamı (chem-behr-LEE-tahsh),
only a 10-minute walk from Sultanahmet and
the Hippodrome west
(uphill) along Divan
Yolu,
a historic bath designed by the great
Ottoman
architect Mimar
Sinan. (I've received a report
of poor service from a visitor in the
women's section, however.)
Cağaloğlu
Hamamı,
on Yerebatan Caddesi only a three-minute
stroll from the Hippodrome,
historic, ornate and touristy. The
name is pronounced
"djah-AHL-oh-loo hah-mah-muh."
Galatasaray
Hamamı, in
Beyoğlu near Galatasaray
Square, emaborate,
historical, very touristy.
Please contact
me and let me know
what sort of experience you have—good,
bad, normal, indifferent—in
any of these baths so that I can make
accurate recommendations to future
visitors. Thanks!
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