A Turkish bath (Turkish: Hamam) is the Turkish variant of a steam bath, sauna or Russian Bath, distinguished by a focus on water, as distinct from ambient steam.
In Western Europe, the 'Turkish bath' as a method of cleansing and relaxation became popular during the Victorian era. The process involved in taking a Turkish bath is similar to that of a sauna, but is more closely related to ancient Greek and ancient Roman bathing practices.
A person taking a Turkish bath first relaxes in a room (known as the warm room) that is heated by a continuous flow of hot, dry air allowing the bather to perspire freely. Bathers may then move to an even hotter room (known as the hot room) before splashing themselves with cold water. After performing a full body wash and receiving a massage, bathers finally retire to the cooling-room for a period of relaxation.[1]
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The hamam combines the functionality and the structural elements of its predecessors in Anatolia, the Roman thermae and Eastern Roman baths, with the central Asian Turkish tradition of steam bathing, ritual cleansing and respect of water. It is also known that Arabs built versions of the Greek-Roman baths that they encountered following their conquest of Alexandria in Egypt. However, the Turkish bath has improved style and functionality that emerged as annex buildings of mosques or as re-use of the Eastern Roman baths.
After the Ottomans took over the Eastern Roman Empire their Hammams were originally structures annexed to mosques. However they quickly evolved into institutions unto themselves and eventually, with the works of the Ottoman architect Sinan, into monumental structural complexes, the finest example being the "Çemberlitaş Hamamı" in Istanbul, built in 1584.
Like its Roman predecessor a typical hammam consists of three basic, interconnected rooms: the sıcaklık (or hararet -caldarium), which is the hot room; the warm room (tepidarium), which is the intermediate room; and the soğukluk, which is the cool room (frigidarium).
The sıcaklık usually has a large dome decorated with small glass windows that create a half-light; it also contains a large marble stone called göbek taşı (tummy stone) at the center that the customers lie on, and niches with fountains in the corners. This room is for soaking up steam and getting scrub massages. The warm room is used for washing up with soap and water and the soğukluk is to relax, dress up, have a refreshing drink, sometimes tea, and, where available, a nap in a private cubicle after the massage. A few of the hamams in Istanbul also contain mikvehs, ritual cleansing baths for Jewish women.
The hamam, like its precursors, is not exclusive to men. Hamam complexes usually contain separate quarters for men and women; or males and females are admitted at separate times. Because they were social centers as well as baths hamams became numerous during the time of the Ottoman Empire and were built in almost every Ottoman city. On many occasions they became places of entertainment (e.g. dancing and food, especially in the women's quarters) and ceremonies, such as before weddings, high-holidays, celebrating newborns, beauty trips.
Several accessories from Roman times survive in modern hamams, such as the peştemal (a special cloth of silk and/or cotton to cover the body, like a pareo), nalın (wooden clogs that prevent slipping on the wet floor, or mother-of-pearl), kese (a rough mitt for massage), and sometimes jewel boxes, gilded soap boxes, mirrors, henna bowls, and perfume bottles.
Traditionally, the masseurs in the baths, tellak in Turkish, were young men who helped wash clients by soaping and scrubbing their bodies. They were recruited from among the ranks of the non-Muslim subject nations of the Turkish empire as such work was seen as below the dignity of a Muslim.
They also worked as sex workers.[2] From the Dellâkname-i Dilküşâ, eighteenth century work by Dervish, Ismail Agha; Ottoman archives, Süleymaniye, Istanbul).[3][4]: "We know today, by texts left by Ottoman authors, who they were, their prices, how many times they could bring their customers to orgasm, and the details of their sexual practices." At times the relationship between a tellak and his client became intensely personal. It is recorded that in the mid-18th century, a janissary had a tellak for a lover. When the latter was kidnapped by the men of another regiment and given over to the use of their commander, a days-long battle between the two janissary regiments ensued, which was brought to an end only when the Sultan ordered the tellak hanged.
After the defeat and dismemberment of the Ottoman army in the early 20th century, the role of tellak boys was filled by adult attendants[5] that scrub and give massages.
Dating back to Frankish occupation and located in the heart of Nicosia in Cyprus is Hamam Omerye - a true working example of Cyprus's rich culture and diversity, hard struggle, yet sense of freedom and flexibility. The site's history dates back to the 14th century, when it stood as an Augustinian church of St. Mary. Stone-built, with small domes, it is chronologically placed at around the time of Frankish and Venetian occupation, approximately the same time that the city acquired its Venetian walls. In 1571 the Ottoman Turkish ruler Mustapha Pasha converted the church into a mosque, believing that this was where the Khalifa Omar rested during his visit to Lefkosia.
Most of the original building was destroyed by Ottoman artillery, although the door of the main entrance still belongs to the 14th century Lusignan building, whilst remains of a later Renaissance phase can be seen at the north-eastern side of the monument. In 2003 the [EU] funded a bi-communal UNDP/UNOPS project, "Partnership for the Future", in collaboration with Nicosia Municipality and Nicosia Master Plan.
Cairo, Egypt like most of the countries in the Middle East and the Arab world is no exception. Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire, and the Hammams of Cairo and other major cities like Alexandria are evidence of this unique Ottoman legacy. There used to be as many as 300 Hammams in Cairo, but in this day, there only remains 7 (seven of them). Two of them, located in El Hussien or Khan El Khalili district are closed. The other five are located in different areas. See the Hammams of Egypt article for more details about their locations, procedures, and operating hours. The article is available in English, Arabic, German, and Russian.
Budapest has four working Turkish Baths, all from the 16th century: Rudas Baths and Király Baths are open to the public; while Racz Thermal Bath is being reconstructed, opening 2010, and the Császár Spa Bath is not a public thermal bath.
"Turkish" baths were introduced to Britain by David Urquhart, diplomat and sometime Member of Parliament for Stafford, who for political and personal reasons wished to popularize Turkish culture. In 1850 he wrote The Pillars of Hercules, a book about his travels in 1848 through Spain and Morocco. He described the system of dry hot-air baths used there and in the Ottoman Empire that had changed little since Roman times. In 1856 Richard Barter read Urquhart's book and worked with him to construct a bath. They opened the first modern Turkish bath in the British Isles at St Ann's Hydropathic Establishment near Blarney, County Cork, Ireland.[6][7] The following year, the first bath of its type to be built in mainland Britain since Roman times was opened in Manchester, and the idea spread rapidly. It reached London in July 1860, when Roger Evans, a member of one of Urquhart's Foreign Affairs Committees, opened a Turkish bath at 5 Bell Street, near Marble Arch.
During the following 150 years over 600 Turkish baths opened in Britain, while similar baths opened in other parts of the British Empire. Dr. John Le Gay Brereton, who had given medical advice to bathers in a Foreign Affairs Committee-owned Turkish bath in Bradford, travelled to Sydney, Australia, and opened a Turkish bath there in Spring Street in 1859, even before such baths had reached London. Canada had one by 1869, and the first in New Zealand was opened in 1874. Urquhart's influence was felt outside the Empire when in 1863 Dr. Charles Shepard opened the first Turkish bath in the United States at 63 Columbia Street, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn. Later municipal authorities introduced turkish baths as part of swimming pool complexes, taking advantage of the fact that water-heating boilers were already on site. In the East End of London, following the influx of Jews from Europe the authorities built six Turkish baths, the last of which, at York Hall was converted in 2007 to a beauty spa.
As of February 2011 there were just sixteen Turkish baths remaining open in Britain; but hot-air baths still thrive in the form of Russian steambaths and the Finnish sauna.
Hamam History
Photos of Hamams in Muslim and Arabic countries
Introduction of Turkish baths to Europe
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