Turkish bath hammam: history, visiting features, prices

Turkish bath hammam

The Turkish bath, or as it is called in Turkey, “hamam,” is a national entertainment that you should definitely try when traveling around Turkey. Local bath procedures have a unique character and are performed in a certain sequence.

Hamams are very popular not only among locals, but also among tourists, because here you can not only wash yourself, but also relax physically and emotionally. About the history of Turkish baths, features of visiting, the construction of hammams and prices - in our article.

History of the Turkish Hammam

The history of the Turkish bath-hamam goes back to ancient times. During the existence of the Byzantine Empire, the famous Roman physician Galen worked in the town of Pergamum (now located in Turkey). He was a great connoisseur of thermal baths - the predecessors of the hammam.

The Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula eventually adopted some traditions from the Byzantines. Long before the advent of Islam, the eastern peoples were accustomed to frequent washing. This was due to the hot climate conditions. But if before the Arab conquest of the Levant they washed only with cold douches, after that procedures were added, but in a Turkish bath, using hot steam.

With the advent of Islam, oriental and Turkish steam baths became very popular, because the Prophet Muhammad himself highly appreciated their benefits. Over time, Turkish baths have been slightly modernized, but their essence remains the same.

Historical excursion

In modern Russian, it is allowed to write one letter “m” in the word hamam, although from a lexical point of view it would be more correct to write hammam. In order not to be confused in the spelling of this word, which came from Arabic, we have adopted the more common term Turkish bath, which is completely equivalent to the classic hammam.

For true Muslims, going to the bathhouse is a mandatory ritual, because even the Prophet Muhammad noted that cleanliness is half the faith. As a result, in the east, the interior of the hammam is often not inferior to the interior of palaces and mosques.

A traditional Turkish hammam consists of two rooms: male and female, which are supplied with steam from a common boiler. If there is not enough space to accommodate two separate rooms, the hammams operated in a separate mode, when men washed in the bathhouse on one day and women on the other.

Hammam in the east is not only a place for taking mandatory hygiene procedures, but like in ancient Rome, it is also a place for communication, philosophical conversations, where important life problems were often solved and profitable deals were concluded. Every Turkish man was obliged to send his wives to the hammam every week. For them, it was a particularly solemn and festive day, where they wore some of their best outfits. Indeed, in fact, besides the hammam, Turkish women had no other opportunity to sit and have pleasant conversations with their friends and acquaintances over a cup of coffee with oriental sweets. Moreover, such gatherings often lasted long after midnight, when husbands had to wait patiently for their betrothed.

Hammam device

Cukurcuma Hamami, Istanbul

A Turkish bath is a complex of several rooms, each of which has its own purpose and temperature conditions. You can see what a Turkish hammam looks like from the inside in the photo. What rooms are there in the hammam:

1. Relaxation room
   . The room where people enter before and after visiting the “steam room”. The air temperature in this part of the Turkish bath is maintained at +30...+35 ˚C. Here you can sit on trestle beds and taste fruits, oriental sweets, and tea. In the relaxation room, candles are lit and quiet music is playing.
2. Hararet
   . This is the main hall in the hammam, where the air temperature is maintained at +50...+60 ˚C. Typically, it is round in shape with a domed ceiling. There are small niches in the walls where you can sit, warm up and relax. The walls are equipped with taps, there are ladles for pouring and bowls of water. The central part of the hall, also called the “belly stone,” can accommodate up to 8 people at a time. All surfaces in the hammam (except the ceiling) are warm - they are made of marble, so they heat up evenly and give off heat for a long time.
3. Massage rooms
   . Individual cabins where massages and some beauty treatments are performed. Most often, they are found in tourist spa centers.
4. Shower room
   . After all the procedures, you need to cool down in the shower to close the pores, wash off the mask from your face and prepare for temperature changes.
5. Additional premises.
   Some Turkish baths have jacuzzi, swimming pools, saunas, mud and salt rooms.

Hammam structure and procedures

Hammam - the art of cleansing the body
The building itself consists of three rooms. Each of them is named differently and has a different purpose. The first one is called "Jamekian". If we translate everything in our own way, then we can consider it like a locker room. There, those who want to take a steam bath leave their shoes and clothes and move on to the next stage. This is pestemal. The body washing procedure itself takes place in this room.

According to ancient traditions, you need to use two things for this: a copper jug ​​and olive soap. The first is for pouring water, and the second is directly for soaping the body. The final room is called "hararet". The most important process takes place there: they steam there. A special feature is the material from which both the floor and walls are made, namely marble. It is heated evenly, and staying on it adds comfort and pleasant sensations.

In parallel with these three stages, the visitor is given massages, masks, peelings, hair cutting and other procedures for complete relaxation. It was not for nothing that during the reign of the sultans, his concubines were sent to Hammam before the nights of love. There they were made into real priestesses of love and beauties. The most famous of them was Roksolana, the fatal Slav who won the heart of the Turkish ruler.

Turkish bath hammam: how to use

You can visit the hammam yourself or use the services of a personal bathhouse attendant. In the East, these specialists are called Tellyaks. It is better to enjoy the ancient atmosphere of the Turkish “therms” in the historical hammams of Istanbul alone. In public Turkish baths and tourist centers, on the contrary, we recommend using the services of a Tellyak to experience a relaxing soap massage.

Rules for visiting the hammam

How to visit the hammam with a “bathhouse attendant”:

• when you come to the Turkish hammam sauna, you change into a swimsuit, wrap yourself in a Turkish peshtemal towel and go to the relaxation room;
• after the body has gotten used to the warmth (after about 15 minutes), the Telly comes for you and takes you to the hararet;
• you lie down on a warm marble floor and the bathhouse attendant first pours warm water over you, after which he rubs your body with a special glove - kese, to cleanse dead skin;
• the next stage is a soap massage in a Turkish bath: the Tellyak forms a huge amount of foam using a fabric bag and squeezes it out on you (the soap solution intensively moisturizes the skin due to the high content of olive oil in it), the effect of the soap massage is consolidated with an oil massage;
• The master applies a nourishing mask to the face.

If you decide to visit the hammam on your own, after the rest room, go to the hararet and sit in one of the niches. Douse yourself with warm water to steam your skin. Then, lie down on the “belly stone” to warm up the muscles and general relaxation. Next, take a special mitten for the Turkish bath - a kese glove, and rub it on the skin of your body until it becomes pellet, then visit the relaxation room, and then take a shower. You can repeat these steps in the same sequence again.

How to get there

If you are staying at a hotel in the Beyoğlu area, you won't have to travel far to visit the Galatasaray hammam. It is located at the intersection of Turnaci Bashi and Chapanoglu streets, not far from Taksim Square and Galata Tower.

How to get here

• from Taksim Square • 9 min walk
• from Şişhane station • 10 min walk

If you live on the historical peninsula, then there are two ways.

1. Take the M2 metro (green line) to Shishkhane station , then walk a little along Istiklal and turn right.
2. Take the T1 tram (from Sultanahmet, Sirkeci , Eminönü) to the Tophane stop , where after admiring the Tophane Fountain and the Nusretiye Mosque, you go up Boğazkesen Caddesi Street to Galatasaray. Or, having taken the tram to the Kabatash terminal, transfer to the F1 funicular , take it up to Taksim Square, and then walk about 10 minutes along Istiklal to Galatasaray.
3. From the Asian side, first take the ferry to Eminonu, then transfer to the T1 tram.

You can also get to Taksim Square by buses from different parts of Istanbul. Check the public transport schedule on the city transport website iett.istanbul or in the moovitapp.com application.

After visiting the hammam, we recommend taking an Istanbul taxi to the hotel or ordering a transfer.

Art object in the hamam

Address and opening hours

Address : Kuloğlu, Turnacıbaşı Cd. No:24, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul ( Turkey , Istanbul, Beyoğlu district, Galatasaray, Turnaci Bashi st., 24)

Telephone: +902122524242.

Website : www.galatasarayhamami.com

Visiting hours : for men 07:00-22:00, for women 08:00-21:00.

A 25% discount on hammam services is provided upon presentation of the Museum Pass Istanbul. Water, tea and similar drinks are free for customers.

We remind you that at the end of the procedures in the hammam (already at the exit) it is customary to give a tip of 15%

On the map

Hammams in Turkey and prices

Hamams Turkish baths in Istanbul are a concentration of old hammams that were visited by famous historical figures, including Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and his wife Hurrem Sultan. The best hamams in Istanbul are: Suleymaniye, Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan, Ali Pasha, Caaloglu, Çemberlitas, Sofular.

Historic Vezneciler Hamam, Istanbul

In Alanya, according to numerous reviews, Turkish hammams are popular: “Grand Alanya”, “Cleopatra”, “Pasha Hamam”. In Marmaris, tourists especially like several Turkish baths: “Armutalan”, “Sultan Hamam”, “Ottoman”. Several Turkish baths are popular in Side: Ece, Dolphin, Sultan Hamam.

A visit to the hamam at a hotel in Turkey is often included in the price of accommodation. In addition to this, there are 2 more types of hammam - in tourist centers and Turkish public baths. The price of visiting a hammam in a Turkish bath depends on: the city of location, the season, the number of procedures, the type and level of the establishment. Also, how much a Turkish bath costs directly depends on whether you are visiting a Turkish bath as part of an excursion group or booking a trip to the hammam yourself, via the Internet.

Average prices for visiting a Turkish bath:

• from $15 – visit to the hamam as part of an excursion, at Mediterranean resorts (the price includes: peeling, oil and soap massage, face mask, Turkish tea);
• from $25-30 - excursion to the hammam, organized by a hotel guide;
• from $30 - 20-minute therapeutic massage according to indications;
• from $40 - bath session in one of the most popular Turkish baths in Istanbul - Suleymaniye (price includes soap massage);
• from $80 – 45-minute visit to the historical hammam “Aya Sophia Hurrem Sultan”.

On a note! Despite the fact that it is more profitable to go to the hammam at the hotel, you will not be able to fully enjoy the Turkish bath traditions here. For this, it is better to go to specialized bath complexes in the city or on the outskirts.

Main stages of design and construction of hammams

In order to build a modern, economical, safe and high-quality hammam, it is necessary to comply with mandatory technological rules and construction standards at all stages of design, construction and installation work.

1. At the design stage, it is necessary to take into account all the circumstances that in the future may have a decisive influence on the operating conditions of the hammam.

After all, not only the comfort and ease of use of the hammam, but also the health and safety of clients using its services depend on many important characteristics and parameters.

Therefore, the design of a Turkish bath must be approached with oriental dimensions, but with seriously prepared and verified accurate calculations. Mistakes made at the design stage can certainly affect the stage of putting the Turkish bath into operation, so you should trust this work only to an experienced company with a high reputation, which has competent and highly qualified designers.

First, you need to choose the right place to place the Turkish bath, which must have good thermal insulation, it must be connected to an uninterrupted high-quality electrical network of sufficient power, as well as utilities that provide water supply and sewage drainage.

Since the hammam premises will have high humidity levels during operation and various flavoring agents may be used, it is necessary to provide a reliable ventilation system that can quickly ventilate the hammam premises during and after its use.

When designing a room for a hammam, it is necessary to take into account that the dimensions of the room are sufficient to accommodate all the necessary equipment and the intended filling of the interior with the necessary equipment.

2. The arrangement of the hammam can begin after the pre-designed room has been completely prepared for it, but more often it is more convenient and profitable to entrust the construction process to the same company that was involved in its design and will deal with the arrangement, installation of equipment and putting it into operation. Indeed, in this case, the risk of errors that third-party contractors can introduce into the hammam design will be reduced to zero and the costs associated with redoing poorly done work and bringing the facility to working condition will be significantly reduced.

3. When installing the necessary equipment and finishing the premises, it is necessary to use the most modern and safe equipment and finishing materials, designed for operation at elevated temperatures and 100% humidity levels.

All communication networks must be made from materials that allow constant operation at high temperatures and high humidity and at the same time not be subject to corrosion throughout their entire service life. Installation of electrical wiring must prevent direct ingress of moisture; all conductive parts and assemblies must have reliable grounding. In the event of short-term power outages, it is necessary to provide backup sources to power the emergency lighting system.

4. Installation of equipment and commissioning of the hammam

Upon completion of construction, installation and finishing work, special equipment is installed. Since today hammam can be installed not only in individual buildings and premises, but even in ordinary apartments, using a classic Turkish bath with a boiler in practice is unprofitable and dangerous. To replace the traditional boiler, an electric steam generator has appeared, which works much more efficiently than a boiler, has smaller dimensions, is fireproof and is much more economically profitable.

All that remains is to select the correct power and parameters of the steam generator for your room, connect it correctly to communication networks and, if necessary, install a special control panel for the hammam and additional multimedia and other equipment.

After this, as at any complex construction and installation site, when putting the hammam into operation, mandatory commissioning work is carried out, where the correctness of the installation work is checked, the operation of all equipment and the safe operation of the complex as a whole are tested.

Therefore, in order to avoid serious problems that may arise during the operation of a Turkish bath, which can lead not only to serious material damage, but also to a decrease in the level of safety, even if you have experience in building a Russian bath in the country, contact an experienced designer who will be able to take into account all the initial data at the design stage, which will reduce the costs of construction and commissioning of the hammam to a minimum, and safety to a maximum.

Hammam at home

A reasonable question: what is a hammam bathhouse for the home, or even this: what is a hammam and why is it needed at home? In short, in the average home environment, hammam is quite an expensive pleasure. There are several reasons:

1. The steam generation and steam transportation system is costly to maintain and expensive to purchase.
2. Extremely expensive finishing and equipment, primarily associated with the use of natural stone and mosaics.
3. The complex design of the ceiling dome in a full-size hammam-type bathhouse.

Based on the main reasons given above, the construction of a full-size Turkish bathhouse at home is a very expensive and manual labor-intensive task. Is there any alternative? If you don’t have sufficient funds, but you want to use hammam, primarily due to its “gentle” effect on the body. Small-sized Turkish bath, hammam, what is it in the 21st century? This is a high-tech small-sized steam box, equipped with a simple and effective low-capacity steam generator, the operation of which to generate high-quality steam is controlled by an electronic control system.

Due to the small size of the hammam bath, which we see in the example of the box, the design is significantly simplified, while the quality of the steam remains consistently high. Such a box easily fits even in an apartment, not to mention an individually built house. The energy consumption for its power supply is low and easily fits into the load limit of household electrical wiring.

Note to the builder

If someone has a desire to independently build such a structure for their own needs, it is important to know a few basic fundamental points about how the hammam works:

1. The area of ​​the steam room must be at least 8 sq.m. per person. Based on these dimensions, the bathhouse with hamam can easily accommodate wide heated stone benches and a massage table of the required length.
2. As already mentioned above, the ceiling of the hammam sauna is in the form of a hemisphere. This design feature will prevent heavy drops of condensation from falling down and will help remove moisture from the ceiling to the floor exclusively along the walls of the room.
3. When designing an oriental-type bathhouse, it should be remembered that a hammam is also a sufficient area of ​​utility and auxiliary technical rooms that house a steam generator, air flavorings and ionizers, acoustics, a lighting control system and other equipment without which a hammam or Turkish bath would be incomplete.
4. Finishing materials are, first of all, noble types of natural stone: marble, onyx, travertine. The sauna with hammam is in harmony with the mosaic. Moreover, the mosaic can be made of either natural stone or glass.
5. A few words about lighting. Do not forget that the Turkish bath is a lyric, therefore the lighting should be appropriate. Local sources of soft diffused light, LED strips and strips, “starry sky” type canvases - all this will allow you to create a unique atmosphere of the East in the room based on the fairy tales of Scheherazade.

Attention! Hammam, what is it in terms of organizing lighting equipment. An important condition when organizing and arranging a lighting system is its distribution in space in several zones and levels. Then, due to the light filling of the room, it will be possible to very successfully play with various design solutions and finds. In addition, it is worth taking care of a waterproof version of the lighting equipment and the ability to operate from low voltage sources, for example, through a remote step-down transformer.

Rules for visiting the oriental bath

A traditional Turkish bath is a place of relaxation for body and soul. Of course, this sounds strange to us: “I went to the bathhouse to relax, and not to wash myself.” But in reality this is exactly the case. People go to the hammam to relax, socialize, and enjoy all the wisdom of age-old traditions.

It is not customary to visit the hammam naked. Therefore, a checkered towel and a “loincloth” are a traditional attribute of Eastern exoticism. Wooden slippers are also necessary, since the warm water floor in the bathhouse may seem hot to some. Alcohol is strictly prohibited, but tea is welcome: whatever you want and in any quantity. It is not customary here to wash yourself; for this, there are special bathhouse attendants who will “feed, drink and put you to sleep.”

A modern Turkish bath, as a rule, has at least three rooms. The first is the so-called dressing room. Here you can not only undress and change clothes, but also take a shower. In a word, prepare yourself for “heavenly pleasure.”

The second is a large main room, in which the entire process of bath procedures takes place. In the middle there is a large “stone shelf,” usually made of marble, on which people lie and warm up for 15-20 minutes, after laying down a towel. It is recommended to do this with your stomach down to better warm up the internal organs. After warming up the body, a light massage is done with special mittens. In this case, the body is rinsed with warm water from special bowls. In this case there is no shower. In richer baths there are pools with different water temperatures.

The third room is the rest room. Here you can drink tea, lie down, chat and even sleep. There is everything to make a person feel like a person who has the right to rest. By the way, the expression “getting high” comes from the Arabic word “keif”, which means relaxation.