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Agence France-Presse

Hammams were central to Ottoman society for centuries before the advent of running water led to them falling out of use in Turkey. Now, many are being restored to revive an ancient bathing tradition.
Many older Turkish films feature entertaining hammam scenes featuring women who not only bathe but socialise, eat, drink and even dance in the bathhouses.
In 2023, the 500-year-old Zeyrek Cinili Hamam in Istanbul – built during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent by the celebrated Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan – reopened to the public after a painstaking 13-year restoration.
As well as a functioning hammam, the complex houses a museum that explains its history and the Ottoman ritual of bathing.

“The restoration somehow turned into an archaeological dig” that gave insight into how the hammam once looked, museum manager Beril Gur Tanyeli says.
“Around 3,000 pieces of missing tiles were found, which helped solve the puzzle of why this hammam was called Cinili” – Turkish for “covered with tiles”.
The beautiful Iznik tiles – produced during the 16th and 17th centuries in the Turkish town of the same name and known for their colours – that once lined its walls were exclusively produced for the hammam, with no other bathhouse having such a rich interior, museum officials say.
Although most were damaged by fires or earthquakes, or sold to European antique dealers in the 19th century, some are still visible.
The restoration also exposed several Byzantine cisterns beneath the hammam.

“Sinan the architect is believed to have built the hammam on top of these cisterns to use them as a foundation and as a source of water,” Tanyeli says.
In ancient Rome, bathing culture was very important and it was “traditional for traders to wash before entering the city, especially in baths at the [city’s] entrance”, archaeologist Gurol Tali says.
During the Ottoman Empire bathing culture had its golden age, with the ritual bath symbolising cleanliness of both the body and soul.
In Islam, a Muslim must wash before praying – an act known as ablution.
Hammams were also a place for celebrating births and weddings.
We have hot water at our fingertips, but we need to keep this tradition alive
Manolya Gokgoz, spokeswoman for Istanbul’s Cemberlitas Hammam
“Baths were used not only for cleansing the body but for socialising, relaxing, healing and celebrating important life events”, with special rites for brides, soldiers and those who had undergone circumcision, Tali says.
Since households at the time did not have running water, hammams were an essential part of life until the 19th century. According to the museum, census figures from 1638 show there were 14,536 public and private baths in Istanbul.
That tradition has survived until today.
“You come here to get clean and leave handsome,” says Zafer Akgul, at one of the city’s hammams with his son. He visits often, particularly during religious feasts or for weddings.
“We don’t want this tradition to die,” he adds.

Tali says that is where Istanbul’s ancient hammams can serve a bigger purpose.
“Restoring historical baths in Istanbul and putting them to use may be the most effective way to transfer cultural heritage to future generations,” he says.
Bayezid II Hamam, a bathhouse near and from the same era as Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, reopened as a museum in 2015 after years of restoration work.
It was one of the largest hammams in the city. Some historians believe it was where a notorious men’s bathing attendant – or tellak – called Patrona Halil plotted an uprising that in 1730 overthrew Sultan Ahmed III.
For Manolya Gokgoz, spokeswoman for Cemberlitas Hammam, another 16th-century bathhouse built by architect Sinan, the connection is more personal: her grandmother worked there as a natir – a women’s bathing attendant.
“When I was two or three years old, I would go to the baths in the morning, wash and play by myself until the evening without getting bored,” she says.
For Gokgoz, the tradition lives on – although mostly among tourists, which for her is a shame.

“In the past, we used to go to the hammam with our mothers and grandmothers. Now 70 per cent of our customers are foreign tourists and 30 per cent are locals,” she says.
These days, the hammam experience – in which bathers relax in hot, warm or cool pools with extras like massages or peeling available – is quite expensive; basic services typically cost around US$100 .
Turkish and international celebrities often visit Cemberlitas. Spanish actor Pedro Alonso – who played the character Berlin in Netflix’s hit series Money Heist – visited in September.
“Hammam is not a luxury, but a need,” Gokgoz says.
“Yes, it’s not like in the past because we have hot water at our fingertips, but we need to keep this tradition alive.”
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After becoming obsolete during the Ottoman Empire, some Istanbul bathhouses have reopened. To Turks, they’re more than just places to bathe


After becoming obsolete during the Ottoman Empire, some Istanbul bathhouses have reopened. To Turks, they’re more than just places to bathe.


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