Istanbul’s baths make a comeback
For many of the seven million tourists who come to Istanbul every year, a trip to a hamam, or traditional Turkish bath, is a highlight of their visit - an authentic Ottoman-era experience.
Cagaloglu Hamami in Sultanahmet Istanbul Turkey
Dressed only in a skimpy cotton wrap and noisy wooden sandals, you sit in a drippingly humid steam room, under a perforated stone dome from which shafts of light stream down.
You are then led by beefy tellaks, traditional masseurs, to a heated marble slab in the middle of the chamber, and vigorously scrubbed and slapped around, before dousing yourself in cool water from the old brass taps set in the walls..
Perhaps borrowing some ideas from the bathing habits of the city's original Roman inhabitants, the Ottoman conquerors of Istanbul built some 150 hamams there between the 16th and 18th Centuries, and many more in other cities.
Some of the finest were built by Sinan, the most renowned architect of the Ottoman era.
For wealthy women of the period a trip to the hamam was part of the daily routine; they would spend hours there relaxing, chatting, and being groomed by their servants.
Ottoman revival
But over the past century the habit has died, and most of the original Ottoman hamams have fallen into disuse: some demolished, others converted into bars or store rooms.
Of the 48 hamams believed to have been built by Sinan, just a handful survive,, some of them in ruins.
There is a lot more interest in preserving our historical heritage now, and it is not restricted to more spectacular buildings like mosques. Hamams, and even Ottoman-era factories, are being renovated
Historian Nina Ergin
Only a few, like those in tourist areas - such as Cemberlitas, near the Spice Bazaar, and Cagaloglu, a stone's throw from Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque - have continued to thrive.
Cemberlitas was built by Sinan in 1584, as a commission from the wife of the Sultan. Cagaloglu was built in a spectacular neo-baroque style in 1741. A water crisis later in the 18th Century forced the Sultan to ban all further hamam construction.
"Most hamams were built to help fund the big foundations that were a feature of the Ottoma era," says historian Nina Ergin.
"They were rented out to fund mosques, hospitals and soup kitchens. But at the end of the 19th Century many of those foundations ran into financial difficulties, and offered rental periods of 200 to 300 years. That's how so many hamams have ended up in private hands."
But in recent years there has been something of an Ottoman revival among people living in Istanbul, and with it renewed interest in classic hamams.
Cemberlitas was substantially renovated in the 1980s; Cagaloglu is now on the market for $16m (£9.77m).
The growth of the spa industry around the world has also inspired some entrepreneurs to build new hamams, in shopping malls, hotels and health centres.
"It is very positive", says Ms Ergin. "There is a lot more interest in preserving our historical heritage now, and it is not restricted to more spectacular buildings like mosques. Hamams, and even Ottoman-era factories, are being renovated."
'Unique buy'
If you happen to have a spare $3m, plus perhaps the same again for restoration, you could buy yourself an authentic Sinan hamam, situated in the historic district of Aya Kapi close to the southern shore of the Golden Horn.
The hamam in Aya Kapi is in need of extensive renovation
It is little more than a pile of stones now; trees have taken root in its crumbling dome, and inside it is being used to store timber.
Estate agent Okan Aksudogan took me up a rickety ladder to see the magnificent brick structure inside the dome.
He believes that for the right kind of investor, at $3m the hamam is a bargain.
"He could probably get his money back, after renovation, in 10 to 15 years," he says. "But the asked price is maybe not the true value, it is just the value put on the business. But what you buy is something unique."
Planning regulations for historic buildings like this are very strict these days. Nina Ergin says that makes it difficult to find investors willing to put in the time and money needed to restore them.
But Mr Aksudogan hopes that either a cultural foundation, or a wealthy individual with a love of classical Ottoman architecture, can be persuaded to bring the Aya Kapi hamam back to its former glory.
(bbc.co.uk , Sunday, 25 October 2009)
Tourists’ Love for Turkish Hamams
Cemberlitas Hamami in Sultanahmet (Hippodrome)
Although an increasing number of public baths are facing closure because of no customers, yet many tourists still regard a visit to the traditional hamam of Istanbul as something indispensable and hence an integral part of their journey. The rich, traditional and colorful culture of Istanbul’s hamams adds special importance to this capital of the Ottoman and the Byzantine Empires and make hamams exemplary pieces of architecture.
Under the ruling of Sultan Mehmed II, the Ottomans began the revival of the city’s buildings which included mosques and more prominently, public baths. Nearly 26 public baths were built under the revival program undertaken by Sultan Mehmed II to revive the depopulated city called Istanbul.
The traditional public baths of the 15th century were converted into huge monuments of artistic architecture with decorated domes and porticoes adorning these baths. The Tahtakale bath is a beautiful example of being a distinctive bath of Istanbul located just next to the Rustem Pasha Mosque in Eminonu as one moves through the city roads from the Golden Horn. A striking beauty of the famous Tahtakale bath reveals the love of the rich and the famous of the Ottoman period that had a craze for building public baths that were accessible to people of all faiths.
Public baths were an integral part of everyday life in Istanbul. The fact that there were more than 850 public baths operating in Istanbul during the 18th century provide sufficient evidence that public baths were a flourishing bathing industry of Istanbul offering employment and income to a large part of Istanbul’s population. These public baths were not just a public place to wash away every day’s dirt, but held an important place in the social life of the people of Istanbul.
Public baths held a special importance for women during the 18th century as they gathered there not just to bath but to gossip and enjoy each other’s company. It was a perfect place to search for a prospective bride for the mother of a young son. Till today, the young brides go to the public baths accompanied by their friends and relatives, a traditional custom of Turkish weddings prevalent even now. They dance and have a great time.
Galatasaray Hamami
There is another fact associate with these enjoyable places of public baths. Public baths also came to be known for steaming conspiracies and political rivalries during the Ottoman period. No wonder, the Ottoman administration sent out special spies to keep a vigil on not just the coffee bars and the streets but also the public baths. The fact is that public baths indeed became the place for political conspiracies as the person behind the public uprising in Istanbul in 1730 resulting in the execution of Grand Vizier Ibrahim Pasha, the lootings in Istanbul and the renouncing of Sultan Ahmed II was none other than Patrona Halil, an Albanian and a regular hamam attendant.
At present, Istanbul has nearly 90 active public baths that provide an atmosphere of relaxation for not just body but for the mind as well. In fact, being the perfect pieces of architecture, a number of public baths in the old parts of Eminonu and Sultanahmet are great hits among tourists. For example, 250-year-old Cagaloglu Hamami, 400-year-old Cemberlitas Hamami, the Besiktas Hamami, Tarihi Galatasaray Hamami and Gedikpasa Hamami in Sultanahmet are liked alike by tourists and the locals.
