View source for Hammam

{{short description|Place of public bathing common in Muslim societies}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Other uses|Hammam (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Turkish bath|3=Turkish bath (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Ali Gholi Agha hammam, Isfahan, Iran.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Ali Gholi Agha hammam]], [[Isfahan]], Iran]]
A '''hammam''' ({{langx|ar|حمّام|translit=ḥammām}}), also often called a '''Turkish bath''' by Westerners,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Peteet |first=Julie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qYHgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17 |title=The Hammam through Time and Space |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2024 |isbn=9780815638322 |series=Gender, Culture, and Politics in the Middle East |pages=16–17 |language=en}}</ref> is a type of [[steam bath]] or a place of [[public bathing]] associated with the [[Islamic world]]. It is a prominent feature in the [[Islamic culture|culture of the Muslim world]] and was inherited from the model of the [[Culture of ancient Rome|Roman]] ''[[thermae]].''<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|chapter=Bath|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref><ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|location=Paris}}</ref> Muslim bathhouses or hammams were historically found across the [[Middle East]], [[North Africa]], [[al-Andalus]] (Islamic [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], i.e. [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]), [[Central Asia]], the [[Indian subcontinent]], and in [[Southeastern Europe]] under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman rule]].
In Islamic cultures the significance of the hammam was both religious and civic: it provided for the needs of [[Ritual purification|ritual ablutions]] but also provided for general [[hygiene]] in an era before private plumbing and served other social functions such as offering a gendered meeting place for men and for women.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":052" /> [[Archaeology|Archeological]] remains attest to the existence of bathhouses in the Islamic world as early as the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad period]] (7th–8th centuries) and their importance has persisted up to modern times.<ref name=":052" /><ref name=":0" /> Their architecture evolved from the layout of Roman and [[Greek baths|Greek]] bathhouses and featured a regular sequence of rooms: an [[Apodyterium|undressing room]], a [[Frigidarium|cold room]], a [[Tepidarium|warm room]], and a [[Caldarium|hot room]]. Heat was produced by [[Furnace (house heating)|furnace]]s which provided hot water and [[steam]], while smoke and hot air was channeled through [[Hypocaust|conduits under the floor]].<ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":052" /><ref name=":02" />
In a modern hammam visitors undress themselves, while retaining some sort of modesty garment or [[loincloth]], and proceed into progressively hotter rooms, inducing [[perspiration]]. They are then usually washed by male or female staff (matching the gender of the visitor) with the use of [[soap]] and vigorous rubbing, before ending by washing themselves in warm water.<ref name=":052" /> Unlike in Roman or Greek baths, bathers usually wash themselves with running water instead of immersing themselves in standing water since this is a requirement of Islam,<ref name="Sibley" /> though immersion in a pool used to be customary in the hammams of some regions such as [[Iran]].<ref name=":20" /> While hammams everywhere generally operate in fairly similar ways, there are some regional differences both in usage and architecture.<ref name=":052" />
== Etymology ==
The word "hammam" ({{Lang|ar|حَمَّام}}) is a noun meaning "bath", "bathroom", "bathhouse", "swimming pool", etc. derived from the [[Arabic]] [[Semitic root|triconsonantal root]] H-M-M (<big>ح م م</big>) which yields meanings related to heat or heating.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wehr |first=Hans |url=http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=250,ll=38,ls=1,la=1,sg=20,ha=21,br=26,pr=9,aan=24,mgf=33,vi=51,kz=10,mr=25,mn=1,uqw=106,umr=26,ums=14,umj=34,ulq=247,uqa=17,uqq=2,bdw=h19,amr=h7,asb=h17,auh=h37,dhq=h2,mht=h6,msb=h8,tla=h8,amj=h22,ens=h1,mis=h1 |title=A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic |publisher=Foreign Language Study |year=1979 |isbn=9783447020022 |editor-last=Milton Cowan |editor-first=J. |pages=237–238 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Project|first=Living Arabic|title=The Living Arabic Project – Classical Arabic and dialects|url=https://www.livingarabic.com/|access-date=2020-10-11|website=Lughatuna|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of HAMMAM|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hammam|access-date=2020-10-11|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref> From Arabic {{Lang|ar|حمّام}}<big>,</big> it passed on to [[Persian language|Persian]] ({{Lang|fa|حمام}}) and [[Turkish language|Turkish]] ({{Lang|tr|hamam}}).<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=Isaac |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=faxMAAAAMAAJ&dq=persian+arabic+word+hammam&pg=PA316 |title=Names and Their Histories: A Handbook of Historical Geography and Topographical Nomenclature |date=1898 |publisher=Rivingtons |pages=316 |language=en}}</ref>
In English, the inaccurate term "Turkish bath" is also used to refer to hammams. This stems from the tendency of historical Western writers to conflate ethnic and religious terms by referring to Muslims as "Turk" and because they presented hammams largely as an Ottoman cultural feature.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macaraig |first=Nina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RHoxEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 |title=Cemberlitas Hamami in Istanbul: Biographical Memoir of a Turkish Bath |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-4744-3413-3 |pages=6–7 |language=en}}</ref> The first recorded use of the term 'Turkish bath' in English was in 1644.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Definition of TURKISH BATH|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Turkish+bath|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en}}</ref>
== History ==
=== Origins and early development ===
[[File:THERMES_D_ANTONIN_7.JPG|thumb|Remains of the [[Baths of Antoninus|Antonine Baths]] in [[ancient Carthage]], from the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] period, in present-day [[Tunisia]]]]
Public bathhouses were a prominent civic and urban institution in Roman and [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] culture and were found throughout the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] world. They remained important in the cities of the early [[Byzantine Empire]] up to around the mid-6th century, after which the construction of new bathhouses declined and existing ones were gradually abandoned.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Zytka|first=Michal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6nGPDwAAQBAJ|title=A Cultural History of Bathing in Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium|publisher=Routledge|year=2019|isbn=9780367671457}}</ref><ref name=":202">{{Cite book|last=Berger|first=Albrecht|title=Bathing Culture of Anatolian Civilizations: Architecture, History, and Imagination|publisher=Peeters|year=2011|isbn=9789042924390|editor-last=Ergin|editor-first=Nina|pages=49–64|chapter=Baths in the Byzantine Age}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Maréchal|first=Sadi|title=Public Baths and Bathing Habits in Late Antiquity: A Study of the Evidence from Italy, North Africa and Palestine A. D. 285-700|publisher=Brill|year=2020|isbn=9789004418721}}</ref>[[File:20100922 qasr amra14.JPG|left|thumb|[[Qusayr 'Amra]] in [[Jordan]], among the earliest known examples of Islamic bathhouses, dating from the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] period (7th–8th century)]]
Following the [[Early Muslim conquests|expansion of Arab Muslim]] rule over much of the Middle East and North Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries, the [[Early social changes under Islam|emerging Islamic societies]] were quick to adapt the bathhouse to their own needs. Its importance to Muslim society lay in the religious requirement to perform ablutions (''[[wudu]]'' and ''[[ghusl]]'') before praying and because of the general Islamic emphasis on [[Ritual purity in Islam|physical and spiritual purity]],<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":052" /> although the scholar Mohammed Hocine Benkheira has argued that hammams were not in fact necessary for religious purposes in early Islam and that this relationship was partly assumed by later historians.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Hocine Benkheira|first=Mohammed|date=2003|title=" La maison de Satan " Le hammâm en débat dans l'islam médiéval|journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions|volume=220|issue=4|pages=391–443|doi=10.3406/rhr.2003.922}}</ref> He suggests that the hammam's initial appeal derived at least in part from its convenience for other services (such as [[shaving]]), from its endorsement by some [[Medicine in the medieval Islamic world|Muslim doctors]] as a form of therapy, and from the continued popular appreciation of its pleasures in a region where they had already existed for centuries.<ref name=":4" /> He also notes that there was initially strong opposition from many [[Ulama|Islamic scholars (''ulama'')]], especially [[Maliki]] scholars, to the use of hammams.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Fournier |first=Caroline |url=https://books.openedition.org/pur/44617?lang=en |title=Les Bains d'al-Andalus: VIIIe-XVe siècle |series=Histoire |publisher=Presses universitaires de Rennes |year=2016 |location=Rennes|isbn=9782753555457 }}</ref> These scholars viewed hammams as unnecessary for full-body ablutions (''ghusl'') and questioned whether public bathing spaces could be sufficiently clean to achieve proper [[Ritual purity in Islam|purification]]. They also worried that spaces for collective bathing could become spaces for illicit sexual activity. Nevertheless, this opposition progressively faded and by the 9th century most scholars were no longer interested in debating the validity of hammams, although it continued to be seen with suspicion in some conservative circles.<ref name=":4" />
[[File:Jericho byzantinische Mosaike 3.JPG|thumb|The "[[Tree of life|Tree of Life]]" [[mosaic]] in a reception room of the bathhouse at [[Hisham's Palace|Khirbat al-Majfar]], a 7th or 8th century Umayyad-era archeological site in the [[West Bank]]]]
The earliest known Islamic hammams were built in [[Syria (region)|Syria]] and [[Jordan]] during the [[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–750) as part of palaces and [[desert castles]] at [[Qusayr 'Amra]], [[Hammam al-Sarah]], [[Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi]], and [[Hisham's Palace|Khirbat al-Majfar]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":02" /><ref name=":052" /> Shortly after this period, archaeology reveals the existence of Islamic bathhouses across much of the Muslim world, with hammams appearing as far west as [[Volubilis]] (itself a former Roman colony) in [[Morocco]] during the [[Idrisid dynasty|Idrisid]] period (late 8th to early 9th centuries).<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Raftani |first1=Kamal |last2=Radoine |first2=Hassan |date=2008 |title=The Architecture of the Hammams of Fez, Morocco |url=https://archnet.org/publications/5172 |journal=Archnet-IJAR |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=56–68}}</ref> Historical texts and archeological evidence also indicate the existence of hammams in [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]] and other cities of [[al-Andalus]] in the 8th century.<ref name=":5" /> In [[Iran]], which did not previously have a strong culture of public bathing, historical texts mention the existence of bathhouses in the 10th century as well as the use of [[hot spring]]s for therapeutic purposes; however, there has been relatively little archeological investigation to document the early presence and development of hammams in this region.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web|title=BATHHOUSES (ḥammām, garmāba)|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/bathhouses|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Encyclopaedia Iranica}}</ref>
Muslims retained many of the main elements of the classical bathhouses while leaving out functions which were less relevant to their practices. For example, the progression from [[Frigidarium|cold room]] to [[Caldarium|hot room]] was maintained, but it was no longer common practice to take a plunge in cold water after leaving the hot room, nor was exercise incorporated into bathing culture as it was in classical [[Gymnasium (ancient Greece)|gymnasiums]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /> Likewise, Muslim bathers usually washed themselves in running water rather than immersing themselves in standing water.<ref name="Sibley" /> Although in early Islamic history women did not normally patronise hammams, by around the 10th century many places started to provide separate hours (or separate facilities) for men and women.<ref name=":0" /> The hammam then took on an important role in women's social life as one of the few public spaces where they could gather and socialise apart from men.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Aksit|first=Elif Ekin|date=2011|title=The women's quarters in the historical hammam|journal=Gender, Place and Culture|volume=18|issue=2|pages=277–293|doi=10.1080/0966369X.2011.552321|s2cid=146256016}}</ref> Some hammams were privately owned or formed parts of palaces and mansions, but in many cases they were civic or charitable institutions which formed part of larger religious/civic complexes. Such complexes were governed by ''[[waqf]]'' agreements, and hammams often acted as a source of revenue for the upkeep of other institutions such as mosques.<ref name=":052" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite journal|last1=Sarmento|first1=J.|last2=Kazemi|first2=Z.|date=2014|title=Hammams and the contemporary city: the case of Isfahan, Iran|journal=International Journal of Heritage Studies|volume=20|issue=2|pages=138–156|doi=10.1080/13527258.2012.736873|hdl=1822/20890|s2cid=144523991|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
=== Later Islamic baths ===
[[File:Bath of Roxelane Istanbul 2007.jpg|alt=|thumb|[[Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse|Haseki Hürrem Sultan Bathhouse]] in [[Istanbul]], [[Turkey]], commissioned by [[Hurrem Sultan|Roxelana]] and designed by [[Mimar Sinan]] (16th&nbsp;century)]]In the 11th century the [[Seljuk Empire]] conquered much of [[Anatolia]] from the [[Byzantine Empire]], eventually leading to the complete conquest of the remnants of the old empire in the 15th century. During those centuries of war, peace, alliance, trade and competition, these intermixing cultures (Eastern Roman, Islamic Persian and [[Turkic peoples|Turkic]]) had tremendous influence on each other.
Later the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottomans]] became prolific patrons of hammams. Since they were social centres as well as baths, they were built in almost every city across their European, Asian, and African territories. The Ottomans were thus responsible for introducing hammams to much of eastern and central Europe, where many still exist today in various states of restoration or disrepair. Such Turkish baths are found as far as [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Greece]], and [[Hungary]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite book|last=Kuban|first=Doğan|title=Ottoman Architecture|publisher=Antique Collectors' Club|year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sudár|first=Balázs|date=2004|title=Baths in Ottoman Hungary|journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae|volume=57|issue=4|pages=391–437|doi=10.1556/AOrient.57.2004.4.1}}</ref><ref name=":15">{{Cite journal|last=Kanetaki|first=Eleni|date=2004|title=The Still Existing Ottoman Hammams in Greek Territory|url=http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/2004/cilt21/sayi_1-2/81-110.pdf|journal=Middle East Technical University Journal of the Faculty of Architecture|volume=21|pages=81–110|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124054908/http://jfa.arch.metu.edu.tr/archive/0258-5316/2004/cilt21/sayi_1-2/81-110.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Many early Ottoman hammams survive in [[Bursa]] and [[Edirne]], as well as in Eastern Europe and [[Anatolia]], but hammams became even more numerous and architecturally ambitious in [[Istanbul|Constantinople (Istanbul)]], thanks to its royal patronage, its large population and its access to plentiful water.<ref name=":9" /> The city's [[Byzantine Greeks|Greek]] inhabitants had retained a strong Eastern Roman bath culture, with the [[Baths of Zeuxippus]] constituting one early example.<ref>[http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/Islahammam.htm Hamams in Islamic tradition (cyberbohemia.com)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040814082956/http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/Islahammam.htm |date=14 August 2004 }}</ref> Ottoman architects expanded on the experience of [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine architects]] to create particularly well-balanced designs with greater symmetry and regularity in the arrangement of space than could be seen in hammams in other parts of the Muslim world.<ref name=":052" /> Some of the city's oldest monumental hammams are the [[Tahtakale Hamam]] (probably built right after 1454), the [[Mahmut Pasha Hamam]] (built in 1466), and the [[Bayezid II Hamam]] (built some time between 1500 and 1507).<ref name=":8" /> The monumental hammams designed by the 16th-century Ottoman architect [[Mimar Sinan]] (1489–1588), such as the [[Çemberlitaş Hamamı]], the [[Süleymaniye Hamam]] (in the complex of the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]]), and the [[Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse|Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam]], are major examples of hammams that were built later in the era of classical [[Ottoman architecture]].<ref name=":8" /> When Sultan [[Mustafa III]] issued a decree halting the construction of new public baths in the city in 1768, it seems to have resulted in an increase in the number of private hammams among the wealthy and the elites, especially in the [[Bosporus|Bosphorus]] suburbs where they built luxurious summer homes.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last=Artan|first=Tülay|title=The Ottoman World|year=2011|editor-last=Woodhead|editor-first=Christine|pages=386–387|chapter=Forms and Forums of Expression}}</ref>
[[File:Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse1.jpg|thumb|16th-century [[Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse]] in [[Kashan]], Iran. Part of it is now used as a [[teahouse]].]]
In Iran, many examples of hammams survive from the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] period (16th–18th centuries) onward, with the historic city of [[Isfahan]] in particular containing many examples.<ref name=":6" /> The spread of Muslim rule in the [[Indian subcontinent]] also introduced hammams to this region, with many examples surviving in [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] [[Mughal architecture|architecture]] (16th–19th centuries).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Koch|first=Ebba|title=Mughal Architecture: An Outline of Its History and Development (1526- 1858)|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2002}}</ref>
=== Contemporary era ===
Hammams continued to be a vital part of urban life in the Muslim world until the early 20th century when the spread of [[Tap water|indoor plumbing]] in private homes rendered public baths unnecessary for personal hygiene.<ref name=":0" /> This has resulted in a decline in their use – although to varying degrees depending on regional cultural practices. In many regions hammams have been  abandoned, demolished or converted to serve as commercial buildings or cultural venues. Some have been converted into museums or [[Art museum|art galleries]], as with the examples of the [[Bayezid II Hamam]] in [[Istanbul]], which now houses a hammam museum, and the [[National Gallery of Macedonia|Davud Pasha (or Daut Pasha) Hamam]] in [[Skopje]], [[North Macedonia]].<ref name=":14" />
In Turkey many historic hammams continue to operate either for locals or for tourists; in some cases this has led to neglected historic hammams such as the [[Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex|Kılıç Ali Pasa Hamamı]] and the [[Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse|Hürrem Sultan Hamamı]] being renovated and returned to their original function, while others were abandoned or repurposed.<ref name=":10">{{Cite book|last1=Sumner-Boyd|first1=Hilary|title=Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City|last2=Freely|first2=John|publisher=Tauris Parke Paperbacks|year=2010|edition=Revised}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite book|title=The Rough Guide to Istanbul|publisher=Rough Guides|year=2015}}</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite journal|last=Büyükdigan|first=Ilter|date=2003|title=A critical look at the new functions of Ottoman baths|journal=Building and Environment|volume=38|issue=4|pages=617–633|doi=10.1016/S0360-1323(02)00184-1|bibcode=2003BuEnv..38..617B }}</ref> Some of the more contemporary hammams "are quite modern and rival luxury spa experiences around the world.<ref> Freeman, Greg. "[http://www.turkishhamam.com/ The Hamam Experience]" ''Turkish Hamam.'' Retrieved 29 November 2024</ref>"  In Morocco, many hammams continue to serve locals in historic cities such as [[Fez, Morocco|Fes]] and [[Marrakesh]], where they are especially useful to the urban poor residing in the old cities (''[[Medina quarter|medina]]''s).<ref name=":2" /><ref name="Sibley" /><ref name="Hybrid Transitions 2015">{{Cite journal|last1=Sibley|first1=Magda|last2=Sibley|first2=Martin|date=2015|title=Hybrid Transitions: Combining Biomass and Solar Energy for Water Heating in Public Bathhouses|journal=Energy Procedia|volume=83|pages=525–532|doi=10.1016/j.egypro.2015.12.172|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015EnPro..83..525S }}</ref> In many other regions, however, hammams have become obsolete and have either been abandoned or converted to other uses. In Iran, some baths continue to operate in the historic districts of cities like Isfahan where they continue to serve religious functions, but there is an overall decline in their numbers. Many surviving Iranian examples have been converted to other uses, most notably as restaurants and [[teahouse]]s.<ref name=":6" /> In [[Damascus]], [[Syria]], only thirteen hammams were still operating in 2004, mostly in the old city; many others had been either demolished or repurposed.<ref name="Sibley" /> [[Cairo]] in [[Egypt]] contained an estimated 77 operational hammams at the beginning of the 19th century but only eight were still in business by the start of the 21st century, with many others abandoned or neglected.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|last1=Telmissany|first1=May|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rlvp2KmeZMUC|title=The Last Hammams of Cairo: A Disappearing Bathhouse Culture|last2=Gandossi|first2=Eve|publisher=The American University in Cairo Press|year=2009|isbn=9789774162435}}</ref> In the former European territories of the Ottoman Empire such as [[Greece]] and the [[Balkans]], many hammams became defunct or were neglected in modern times, although some have now been restored and turned into historic monuments or cultural centres.<ref name=":15" /><ref name=":19">{{Cite journal|last1=Erdoğan|first1=Nevnihal|last2=Alik|first2=Belma|last3=Temel Akarsu|first3=Hikmet|date=2018|title=The Ottoman-Turkish Hamams in Urban History and Culture in Balkan Countries|journal=14th International Conference in "Standardization, Prototypes, and Quality: A Means of Balkan Countries' Collaboration"|pages=93–102}}</ref>
==Public bathing in the Islamic context==
[[File:Almiralll04.jpg|thumb|Hammam interior, showing water buckets and tilted floor ({{Interlanguage link multi|Baños del Almirante|es|3=Baños del Almirante}}, [[Valencia]])]]
[[File:Fouta bohemeria.JPG|thumb|upright|A [[Peshtemal]], hammam towel]]
Prayer is one of the [[Five Pillars of Islam]] and it is customary to perform [[Ritual purification|ablutions]] before praying. The two Islamic forms of ablution are ''[[ghusl]]'', a full-body cleansing, and ''[[wudu]]'', a cleansing of the face, hands, and feet.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rahim|first=Habibeh|title=Understanding Islam|journal=The Furrow|year=2001|volume=52|issue=12|pages=670–674}}</ref> In the absence of water, cleansing with pure soil or sand is also permissible.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Reinhart|first=Kevin|title=Impurity/No Danger|journal=History of Religions|year=1990|volume=30|issue=1|pages=1–24|doi=10.1086/463212|s2cid=162260908}}</ref> Mosques always provide a place to wash, but hammams are often located nearby for deeper cleansing.<ref name="Sibley">{{cite journal|last=Sibley|first=Magda|title=The Historic Hammams of Damascus and Fez: Lessons of Sustainability and Future Developments|journal=The 23rd Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture}}</ref> Many are actually part of mosque complexes.
Hammams, particularly in Morocco, evolved from their Roman origins to meet the needs of ritual purification according to Islam. For example, in most Roman-style hammams, there was a cold pool for submersion of the body, a style of bathing that finds less favour with Islam which regards bathing under running water without being fully submerged more appropriate.<ref name="Sibley" />
[[Al-Ghazali]], a prominent Muslim theologian of the 11th century, wrote ''Revival of the Religious Sciences'', a multi-volume work discussing the appropriate forms of conduct for many aspects of Muslim life and death. One of the volumes, entitled ''The Mysteries of Purity'', details the proper technique for performing ablutions before prayer and the major ablution (''ghusil'') after anything which renders it necessary, such as the emission of semen.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ghazali|first=Abu Hammid|title=The Mysteries of Purity: Being a Translation with Notes of the Kitāb Asrār Al-ṭahārah of Al-Ghazzāli's Iḥyāʼ ʻulūm Al-dīn|year=1975|publisher=Muhammad Ashraf|location=Lahore}}</ref> For al-Ghazali, the hammam is a primarily male institution, and he cautions that women should only enter a hammam after childbirth or illness. However, even al-Ghazali thought it admissible for men to prohibit their wives or sisters from using the hammam. For al-Ghazali the main point of contention surrounding hammams was nakedness, and he warned that overt nakedness was to be avoided ("… he should shield it from the sight of others and second, guard against the touch of others.") <ref>{{cite book|last=Ghazali|first=Abu Hammid|title=The Mysteries of Purity: Being a Translation with Notes of the Kitāb Asrār Al-ṭahārah of Al-Ghazzāli's Iḥyāʼ ʻulūm Al-dīn|year=1975|publisher=Muhammad Ashraf|location=Lahore|page=51}}</ref> His writing focused especially on the need to avoid touching the penis during bathing and after urination, and wrote that nakedness was decent only when the area between a man's knees and  lower stomach was hidden. For women he suggested that only exposure of the face and palms was appropriate. According to al-Ghazali, nakedness in the hammam could incite indecent thoughts and behaviours, hence its controversial nature.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bouhdiba |first=Abdelwahab |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIRsgQ5639oC |title=Sexuality in Islam |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |location=London |pages=166–167 |isbn=9781135030377 |orig-date=1975}}</ref>
In Islam ritual ablution is also required before or after sexual intercourse.<ref name="Joseph 2003">{{cite book|last=Joseph|first=Suad|title=Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures|title-link=Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures |year=2003|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|author-link=Suad Joseph |author2=Afsaneh Najmabadi }}</ref> Knowing that, [[May Telmissany]], a professor at the [[University of Ottawa]], argues that the image of a hyper-sexualised woman leaving the hammam is an [[Oriental studies|Orientalist]] way of looking at things that sees leaving or attending the hammam as an indicator of sexual behaviour.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Nkrumah|first=Gamal|title=Tales from the Hammam|newspaper=Al-Ahram Weekly|date=23 July 2009}}</ref>
== Bathing practices and services ==
Most hammams expect their clients to undress down to a modesty garment or [[loincloth]], before proceeding from a cold room to progressively hotter rooms. Men are usually washed by male bath attendants and women by female attendants before they are given a massage. Some details of the process vary from region to region, such as the presence or absence of pools where visitors can immerse themselves in water.<ref name=":052" /> In more conservative areas women are less likely to bathe in just their underwear while in areas where hammams have become the preserve mainly of tourists there is more likelihood that women will bathe naked. Some hammam complexes contain separate sections for men and women; elsewhere men and women are admitted at different times in which case the hours for women are usually far more limited than those for men.
Traditionally hammams, especially those for women, doubled as places of entertainment with dancing and food being shared. It was common to visit hammams before weddings or religious holidays, to celebrate births, to swap beauty tips, etc. Women also used visits to the hammam to size up potential wives for their sons.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
Some accessories from Roman times survive in modern hammams, such as the ''[[peshtamal|peştemal]]'' (a special cloth of silk and/or cotton to cover the body, like a [[pareo]]) and the ''kese'' (a rough mitten used for scrubbing). However, other accoutrements of the hammam experience such as jewel boxes, gilded soap boxes, mirrors, metal [[henna]] bowls, perfume bottles and ''nalın'' (wooden or mother-of-pearl [[clogs]] that prevented slipping on the wet floor) can now only be seen in museums.{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}}
Traditionally, the bathhouse masseurs ([[Turkish language|Turkish]]: ''tellak'') were young men who soaped and scrubbed their clients. However, the ''tellaks'' were replaced by adult attendants during the 20th century.<ref>{{harv|Yılmazkaya|Deniz|2005}} discusses occasional licentious activity</ref>
=== Massage ===
{{main|Massage#Hammam ("Turkish bath") massage}}
A massage in a hammam is likely to involve not just vigorous muscle kneading, but also [[cracking joints|joint cracking]] - "not so much a tender working of the flesh as a pummelling, a cracking of joints, a twisting of limbs".<ref>Richard Boggs, ''Hammaming in the Sham: A Journey Through the Turkish Baths of Damascus, Aleppo and Beyond'', 2012, {{isbn|1859643256}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=uoMH_psyizoC&pg=PT161 p. 161]</ref><ref>[[Alexander Russell (naturalist)|Alexander Russell]], ''[[The Natural History of Aleppo]]'', 1756, 2nd edition, 1794, [https://books.google.com/books?id=EtTkC5ek_a8C&pg=PT134 p. 134-5]</ref> Hammams aiming for a tourist clientele are likely to also offer an array of different types of massage similar to what might be offered in a spa.
== Social function: gendered social space ==
Arab hammams are gendered spaces where being a woman or a man can make someone included or excluded. Therefore, they represent a departure from the public sphere in which one is physically exposed amongst other women or men. This declaration of sexuality merely by being nude makes hammams a site of gendered expression. One exception to this gender segregation is the presence of young boys who often accompany their mothers until they reach the age of five or six when they switch to attending the male hammam with their fathers.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Kilito| first=Abdelfettah|author2=Patricia Geesey |title=Architecture and the Sacred: A Season in the Hamam|journal=Research in African Literatures|year=1992|volume=23|issue=2|pages=203–208}}</ref><ref name="Joseph 2003" />
==Architecture==
{{Arabic culture}}
=== General design ===
The hammam combines the functionality and structural elements of the [[Roman culture|Roman]] [[thermae]] with the Islamic tradition of steam bathing, ritual cleansing and respect for water.<ref>[http://turkishhammams.com/ The Guide of Turkish Baths] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170726061126/http://www.turkishhammams.com/ |date=26 July 2017 }}.</ref> Islamic bathhouses were often constructed as a part of [[Külliye|mosque complexes]] which acted as both community centres and places of worship.<ref name=":052">{{Cite book|last1=Sourdel-Thomine|first1=J.|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|last2=Louis|first2=A.|publisher=Brill|year=2012|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|chapter=Ḥammām|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref>
Although there were variations across different regions and periods, the general plan and architectural principles of hammams were very similar. They consisted of a sequence of rooms which bathers visited in the same order: the changing room or undressing room (corresponding to the Roman [[apodyterium]]), the cold room (like the Roman [[frigidarium]]), the warm room (like the [[tepidarium]]), and the hot room (like the [[caldarium]]). The nomenclature for these different rooms varied from region to region. The changing room was known generally as ''al-mashlaḥ'' or ''al-maslakh'' in [[Arabic]], or by local vernacular terms like ''goulsa'' in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]] ([[Morocco]]) and ''maḥras'' in [[Tunisia]], whereas it was known as the ''camekân'' in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and the ''sarbineh'' in [[Persian language|Persian]]. The cold room was known as the ''bayt al-barid'' in [[al-Andalus]], ''el-barrani'' in Fez, ''bayt awwal'' in [[Cairo]], and ''soğukluk'' in Turkish. The warm room or intermediate room was known as ''bayt al-wastani'' in al-Andalus and many other regions, as ''el-wasti'' in Fez, as ''bīt əs-skhūn'' in [[Tunis]], and as ''ılıklık'' in Turkish. The hot room was called the ''bayt al-sakhun'' in al-Andalus, ''ad-dakhli'' in Fez, ''harara'' in Cairo, ''garmkhaneh'' in Persian, and ''hararet'' or ''sıcaklık'' in Turkish.<ref name=":052" /><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=El Baño Andalusí (2 de 2) – Baños del Alcázar Califal {{!}} Visita Virtual|url=https://banosdelalcazarcalifal.cordoba.es/index.php?id=539|access-date=2020-10-10|website=banosdelalcazarcalifal.cordoba.es}}</ref><ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":10" />
The main chambers of the hammam were usually covered with vaulted or domed ceilings, giving them a distinctive profile. The domes and vaults of the steam rooms (especially the hot room) were usually pierced with small holes or [[skylight]]s which provided natural light during the day while allowing excess steam to escape.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":052" /> The ceiling and walls were clad with steam-proof materials such as varnished [[plaster]] or (for the lower walls and floors) [[marble]].<ref name=":052" /> The vestibule, or changing room, was often one of the most highly decorated chambers, featuring a central fountain surrounded by benches.<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":052" /> In Ottoman baths, the main changing room often offered multi-level wooden galleries giving access to smaller changing rooms.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|160}} Toilets or [[latrine]]s were often included in the complex.<ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":11" />
[[File:Arab baths of Girona caldarium hypocaust.jpg|thumb|left|Remains of the ''caldarium'' (hot room) hypocaust in the late 12th century Arab baths, Girona, Spain. ]]Most historic hammams made use of some version or derivation of the Roman [[hypocaust]] underfloor system for heating.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Sibley" /> A furnace or set of furnaces were located in a service room behind the walls of the hot room and set at a lower level than the steam rooms. The furnaces were used to heat water (usually in a large [[cauldron]] above them) which was then delivered to the steam rooms. At the same time, hot air and smoke from the furnaces was channeled through pipes or conduits under the floor of the steam rooms, thus heating the rooms, before rising through the walls and out the chimneys. As hot water was constantly needed, they were kept burning throughout the hours of operation. Although wood was continuously needed for fuel, some hammams, such as those in Morocco, Turkey and [[Damascus]], also made use of recycled organic materials from other industries such as wood shavings from [[Carpentry|carpenters]]' workshops and [[olive]] pits from the [[Olive oil extraction|olive presses]].<ref name="Sibley" />
Some hammams were "double" hammams, having separate facilities for women and men.<ref name=":0" /> Several of Istanbul's larger hammams were like this, including the [[Bayezid II Hamam]] and the [[Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse|Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> Unusually for Morocco, the [[Hammam Saffarin|Hammam as-Saffarin]] in [[Fes]] is another example.<ref name=":2" />
=== Variations ===
==== Maghreb and al-Andalus ====
Regional variations in hammam architecture usually relate to the relative proportions of each room or the absence of one type of room. In the [[Maghreb]], and especially in al-Andalus, the largest and most important steam room was typically the warm room (''al-wastani''). The [[Arab Baths of Jaén]] is one of the more extreme examples of this since the warm room is as large as both the cold and hot rooms combined, possibly because it was also used for [[Massage|body massages]] and other services.<ref name=":5" /> The changing room was also fairly large and was typically the only space to feature any significant architectural decoration.<ref name=":02" />
<gallery widths="150">
File:Banos califales warm room DSCF6877.jpg|Reconstructed interior of the [[Caliphal Baths]] in [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]], Spain (10th century)
File:Baños moros, Alcázar, Jerez de la Frontera, España, 2015-12-07, DD 82-84 HDR.jpg|Vaulted ceiling of warm room in the hammam of the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohad]]-era [[Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera]] in Spain (12th century)
File:Arab Baths in Ronda Spain (18535883696).jpg|alt=The Arab baths (Baños Arabes) of Ronda, Spain, late 13th century|The warm room of the Arab baths (''Baños Arabes'') of [[Ronda]], Spain, late 13th century<ref name=":5"/>
File:Sala tèbia dels banys de l'Almirall de València.JPG|Room at the ''Baños del Almirante'', a historic [[Al-Andalus|Andalusi]] bathhouse in [[Valencia]], Spain ({{circa|1320}}){{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}
File:Chellah DSCF7253.jpg|[[Marinid Sultanate|Marinid]]-era hammam at [[Chellah]], Morocco (14th century)
File:Granada Albayzin Alhambra (121) (51210944632).jpg|Warm room of the [[Emirate of Granada|Nasrid]]-era [[Comares Baths]] at the [[Alhambra]] in [[Granada]], Spain (14th century)
</gallery>
==== Ottoman baths ====
In Ottoman baths the cold room is often either omitted completely or combined with the changing room (known as the ''camekân'' or ''soyunmalık'').<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|160}}<ref name=":21">{{Cite book|last1=Öney|first1=Gönül|title=Early Ottoman Art: The Legacy of the Emirates|last2=Bulut|first2=Lale|last3=Çakmak|first3=Şakir|last4=Daş|first4=Ertan|last5=Demir|first5=Aydoğan|last6=Demiralp|first6=Yekta|last7=Kuyulu|first7=İnci|last8=Ünal|first8=Rahmi H.|publisher=Museum With No Frontiers|year=2010|isbn=9783902782212|edition=2nd|series=Islamic Art in the Mediterranean|chapter=Art and Social Life in the Emirates and Early Ottoman Periods}}</ref><ref name=":10" /> This room is often the largest domed chamber in the complex, with the dome supported on [[squinch]]es, "Turkish triangles", or decorative ''[[muqarnas]]''. It usually features a central fountain (''[[shadirvan|şadırvan]]'') and is ringed with wooden galleries and is used as a place to relax, drink [[tea]], [[coffee]], or [[Sherbet (powder)|sherbet]], and socialise before and after bathing.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|160–161}} In contrast with hammams in al-Andalus or the Maghreb, the warm room (''ılıklık'') was de-emphasised architecturally and was sometimes little more than a transition space between the cold and hot rooms.<ref name=":10" />{{Rp|27}}
The hot room (''hararet'' or ''sıcaklık'') was usually the focus of the richest architectural embellishments.<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|161}} Its layout typically consisted of a central domed space flanked by up to four iwans to form a [[four-iwan layout|cruciform layout]].<ref name=":8" />{{Rp|161}}<ref name=":21" /> The corners between these iwans are often occupied by smaller domed chambers, or ''halvet''s, which were used for private bathing.<ref name=":21" /><ref name=":8" />{{Rp|161}} The center was usually occupied by a large heated marble table (''göbektaşı'' or navel stone) for customers to lie on.
<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Mahmut Pasha Hamam DSCF1329.jpg|Interior of the [[Mahmut Pasha Hamam]] (now used for shops) in [[Istanbul]], Turkey (1476)
File:Mustafa Pasha Hamam DSCF9319.jpg|Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hamam in Istanbul ({{Circa|1477)}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=About the monument {{!}} Kucuk Mustafa Pasa Hammam |url=http://kucukmustafapasahamami.com/en/yapihakkinda.html |access-date=2022-10-16 |website=kucukmustafapasahamami.com}}</ref>
File:Daut Pasha Amam, detail 3.jpg|''[[Muqarnas]]'' decoration around the domes of the Ottoman-era [[National Gallery of Macedonia|Davud Pasha Hamam]] in [[Skopje]], [[North Macedonia]] (late 15th century)
File:Hurrem Sultan Hamam Interior .png|Renovated interior of the [[Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse|Haseki Hurrem Sultan Bathhouse]] in Istanbul (16th century)
File:Hunkar ve Valide Hamamlari Harem Topkapi 2007.JPG|[[Topkapı Palace#Baths of the Sultan and the Queen Mother|Baths of the Sultan and the Queen Mother]] at the [[Topkapı Palace]] in Istanbul (late 16th century)
</gallery>
==== Iran ====
In Iran a shared pool or basin of hot water is commonly present in the middle of the hot room where bathers could immerse themselves, a feature which was rare or absent in the hamams of other regions (except Egypt).<ref name=":11" /><ref name=":20">{{Cite book|last=Blake|first=Stephen P.|title=Bathing Culture of Anatolian Civilizations: Architecture, History, and Imagination|publisher=Peeters|year=2011|isbn=9789042924390|editor-last=Ergin|editor-first=Nina|pages=257–266|chapter=Hamams in Mughal India and Safavid Iran: Climate and Culture in Two Early Modern Islamic Empires}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Iranian hammam architecture was also characterised by the polyhedral shape of its rooms (sometimes rectangular but often octagonal or hexagonal), which were covered by a dome with a central skylight. The Iranian hot room (''garmkhaneh'') was in some cases divided into several rooms: a large main one with a central pool (''chal howz'') and smaller ones for individual ablutions or which could be used as private rooms for special guests.<ref name=":6" />
<gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Roof of Sultan Amir Ahmand's Bath.jpg|Rooftop view of the domes of the [[Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse|Sultan Amir Ahmed Hamam]] in [[Kashan]], Iran (16th century)
File:Mehdi Qoli Beyk Hammam 2015-06-29.jpg|Frescoed/painted decoration in a hammam from the reign of [[Abbas the Great|Shah Abbas I]] in [[Mashhad]], [[Iran]] (16th or 17th century)
File:حمام گنجعلی خان محوطه داخلی.jpg|Hammam of the [[Ganjali Khan Complex]] in [[Kerman]], Iran (late 16th to early 17th century)
File:Baños de Vakil, Shiraz, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 36-38 HDR (32585522971).jpg|The changing room or vestibule of the [[Vakil Bath|Vakil Hammam]] in [[Shiraz]], [[Iran]] (18th century)
</gallery>
==Regional examples of hammams==
=== Jordan ===
[[File:Quseir Amra, Jordan (44990711422).jpg|thumb|Vaulted chambers of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] bathhouse at [[Qusayr 'Amra]], covered in Late Roman or [[Byzantine art|Byzantine]]-style [[fresco]]es (7th or 8th century)]]
Jordan contains several hammams from the Umayyad era (7th to 8th centuries), making them the oldest known examples of Islamic bathhouses. Many of these are attached to the so-called "[[desert castles]]", including [[Qusayr 'Amra]], [[Hammam al-Sarah]], and [[Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":02" /><ref name=":052" /> Qusayr 'Amra is particularly notable for the frescoes in late Roman style that decorate the chambers, presenting a highly important example of Islamic art in its early historical stages.<ref name=":032">{{Cite book|title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2009|editor-last=M. Bloom|editor-first=Jonathan|chapter=Qusayr 'Amra|editor-last2=S. Blair|editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>
===Morocco===
[[File:Marocco Fez(26855722427).jpg|thumb|Domes of the [[Hammam Saffarin|Hammam as-Saffarin]] in the old city of [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]], [[Morocco]]]]
The ruins of the oldest known Islamic hammam in Morocco, dating back to the late 8th century, can be found in [[Volubilis]].<ref name=":2" /> Many historic hammams have been preserved in cities such as [[Marrakesh]]<ref name="Hybrid Transitions 2015" /> and especially [[Fez, Morocco|Fes]], partly because they continue to be used by locals.<ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":2" /> Among the best known examples is the 14th-century [[Hammam Saffarin|Saffarin Hammam]] in Fes, which has been restored and rehabilitated.<ref name="Sibley" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Sibley |first1=Magda |last2=Jackson |first2=Iain |date=2012 |title=The architecture of Islamic public baths of North Africa and the Middle East: an analysis of their internal spatial configurations |journal=Architectural Research Quarterly |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=155–170 |doi=10.1017/S1359135512000462 |s2cid=111065262}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Summary of the discussions – ECO-HAMMAM |url=https://ecohammam.com/summary-of-the-talks/ |access-date=2020-09-13 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> Moroccan hammams were typically smaller than Roman or Byzantine baths. They are often close to mosques to facilitate the performance of ablutions. Because of their private nature, their entrances are often discreet and their façades are typically windowless. Vestiges of the Roman bathing style can be seen in the three-room layout, which was widespread during the Roman/Byzantine period.
It's sometimes difficult to identify hammams from the outside but the roof has a series of characteristic domes that indicate the different chambers.<ref name="Sibley 2009">{{cite journal|last=Sibley|first=Magda|author2=Fodil Fadli |title=Hammams in North Africa: An Architectural Study of Sustainability Concepts in a Historical Traditional Building|journal=26th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture|year=2009}}</ref> They often occupy irregularly shaped plots to fit into the dense urban fabric. They are significant sites of culture and socialisation as they are integrated into city life in proximity to mosques, [[madrasa]]s (schools) and [[souq]]s (markets). Magda Sibley, an expert on Islamic public baths, wrote that many specialists in Islamic architecture and urbanism found the hammams to be second in importance only to the mosques as the most significant buildings in Islamic [[Medina quarter|medinas]] (historic cities).<ref name="Sibley 2009" />
=== Al-Andalus (Spain and Portugal) ===
[[File:El Bañuelo. Sala central.jpg|thumb|The large warm room of the ''[[El Bañuelo|Bañuelo]]'' hammam in [[Granada]], Spain]]
Although the traditions of the hammams eventually disappeared in the centuries after the [[Granada War|end of Muslim rule]] on the [[Iberian Peninsula]] in 1492, many historic hammam structures have nonetheless been preserved to varying degrees across many cities, especially in [[Spain]]. Many of them are now archeological sites or open to tourists as historical attractions. These hammams are partly distinguished from others by their larger and more monumental warm rooms (''bayt al-wastani'') and changing rooms (''bayt al-maslaj''), a feature also shared with some Moroccan hammams.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":022">{{Cite book|last=Marçais|first=Georges|title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident|publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques|year=1954|location=Paris|pages=215–216, 315–316}}</ref>
An early example (partially destroyed now) were the 10th-century [[Caliphal Baths]] which were attached to the [[Alcázar of the Caliphs (Córdoba)|Umayyad royal palace]] of [[Córdoba, Spain|Cordoba]] (later turned into the [[Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos|Christian Alcazar]]) and later expanded by the Almohads (12th to early 13th centuries).<ref name=":32">{{Cite web|title=Arab Baths of the Caliphal Alcázar of Córdoba – "Caliphal Baths"|url=https://www.artencordoba.com/en/arab-baths-caliphal-alcazar-cordoba/|access-date=2020-10-04|website=Arte en Córdoba|date=10 July 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> Other notable examples of preserved Andalusian baths include the [[El Bañuelo|Bañuelo]] of [[Granada]], the Arab Baths of [[Ronda]], the [[Arab Baths of Jaén]], and the baths in the [[Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera|Alcazar]] of [[Jerez de la Frontera]]. The [[Alhambra]] of Granada also contains two preserved bathhouses: a small one near its main mosque, and a much more lavish one attached to the [[Court of the Myrtles|Comares Palace]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Barrucand|first1=Marianne|title=Moorish architecture in Andalusia|last2=Bednorz|first2=Achim|publisher=Taschen|year=1992|isbn=3822896322}}</ref><ref name=":022" /><ref name=":5" /> In 2020 a well-preserved 12th-century Almohad-period bathhouse, complete with painted geometric decoration, was discovered during renovations of a local [[tapas]] bar in [[Seville]], near the [[Giralda]] tower.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-02-18|title=Islamic 12th-century bathhouse uncovered in Seville tapas bar|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/18/islamic-12th-century-bathhouse-uncovered-in-seville-tapas-bar|access-date=2021-02-18|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
===Syria===
A legend claims that [[Damascus]] once had 365 hammams, one for each day of the year. For centuries, these hammams formed an integral part of community life and some 50 of those in Damascus survived until the 1950s. However, by 2012, as a result of modernisation and the installation of home bathrooms, fewer than twenty Damascene hammams were still working.<ref>[http://garnetpublishing.co.uk/book/hammaming-sham ''Hammaming in the Sham: A Journey through the Turkish Baths of Damascus, Aleppo and Beyond''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120605040051/http://garnetpublishing.co.uk/book/hammaming-sham |date=5 June 2012 }}, Richard Boggs, Garnet Publishing Ltd.</ref>
According to many historians, [[Aleppo]] was home to 177 medieval hammams before the Mongol invasion when many of the city's vital structures were destroyed. Until 1970, around forty hammams were still operating. In 2010, before the start of the [[Syrian civil war|Syrian War]], roughly eighteen hammams still operated in the [[Ancient City of Aleppo|ancient part of the city]].<ref>[http://www.esyria.sy/ealeppo/index.php?p=stories&category=round&filename=200808202135011 Alepo hammams]</ref> Notable examples included:
*[[Hammam al-Sultan]], built in 1211 by [[Az-Zahir Ghazi]]
*[[Hammam al-Nahhasin]], built during the 12th century near Khan al-Nahhaseen
*[[Hammam al-Bayadah]], built in 1450 during the Mamluk era
*[[Hammam Yalbugha]] built in 1491 by the [[List of rulers of Aleppo|Emir of Aleppo]] Saif ad-Din Yalbugha al-Naseri<ref>{{cite book |title=Syria & Lebanon |last1= Carter|first1= Terry|last2=Dunston |first2=Lara |last3= Humphreys|first3= Andrew|year=2004 |publisher=Lonely Planet |isbn=978-1-86450-333-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781864503333/page/186 186] |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781864503333 |url-access=registration |quote=Hammam yalbougha. }}</ref>
*Hammam al-Jawhary, Gammam Azdemir, Hammam Bahram Pasha, [[Hammam Bab al-Ahmar]] and others
<gallery widths="150">
File:Aleppo Citadel 16 - Hammam.jpg|Remains of the hammam at the [[Citadel of Aleppo]], [[Syria]] ({{circa|1200}})
File:Hammam Yalbougha al-Nasri, Aleppo.jpg|[[Hammam Yalbugha]] in [[Aleppo]], Syria (1491)
File:Hammam Al-Nahhasseen Aleppo.jpg|[[Hammam al-Nahhasin]] in Aleppo, Syria, originally built in the 12th century
</gallery>
=== Azerbaijan ===
[[File:Part of Palace of the Shirvanshahs Hammam.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Part of the hammam at the Palace of the Shirvanshahs]]Hammams have traditionally been important in the lives of Azerbaijanis, and more than seven have been named in Azerbaijan's [[List of historical reserves in Azerbaijan|List of historical reserves]]. For centuries, local benefactors would build hammams to serve the needs of the people in their vicinity, often naming them after themselves, a practice still evident as late as the nineteenth century.<ref>Garayeva, Nurengiz. 'Bath culture: bath custom-tradition in Azerbaijani national films' ''International Journal of Historical Researches'' (Spring 2024) pp.314-331</ref> At the other extreme lies the 15th century hammam within the Palace of the Shirvanshahs built solely for the use of the shah and his family. Discovered during archaeological excavations in 1939, the hammam had twenty-six rooms. The ruins lie within [[Icherisheher State Historical-Architectural Reserve Department|Icherisheher]], the [[Old City (Baku)|Old City of Baku]], historical core of the capital, and a UNESCO World Heritage Centre.<ref>"[https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/958 Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower – UNESCO World Heritage Centre]". UNESCO. Retrieved 1 May 2024</ref>
[[File:Yeraltı Hamam (2).jpg|thumb|left|Baku's underground Yeraltı Hammam]]Within the Old City, the building of baths continued over the years. The [[Underground Bath (Baku)|Yeraltı Hammam]] is said to have been built in the 17th century and, like others, is located underground, helping to maintain steady temperatures inside.{{efn|In these very brief descriptions of some Azerbaijani hammams, sources have not generally been given as they could not easily be checked; instead, links have been provided to those pages which do include them, and which have here been used.}} The 18th century [[Agha Mikayil Bath]] near the fortress gates, is the oldest hammam still open in Baku and is one of the few with women's days. Its four central pillars allow large square bathrooms with pointed arches, covered with a variety of cupolas and domes. Another 19th century bath, the Agha Zeynal Hammam, is atypical in that it is housed in a residential building, although the interior maintains the more traditional layout.<ref name="relax">"[https://azerbaijan.travel/traditional-hammams-baku Relax at Baku’s traditional hammams]". Meeting Azerbaijan. Retrieved 1 May 2024.</ref> In the centre of Baku, the Tazabay Hammam was built in 1886 in Islamic style, though with separate rooms. It was fully 'restored' in 2003 and currently has many additional modern facilities, such as manicure and three saunas, which help to make it popular with tourists while still attracting local residents.<ref name="relax"/>
[[File:Şəki Yeralti Hamam koridor.JPG|thumb|The "Underground Bath" in Sheki]]Two other important 19th century hammams are to be found in northwestern Azerbaijan in [[Shaki, Azerbaijan|Sheki]], where the centre of the city was inscribed in the [[UNESCO World Heritage List]] in 2019. The first is [[Dara Bathhouse]] which has been unusable since the 1980s, but is protected and included in the list of architectural monuments. The bath is 6 metres underground, has pools with hot and cold water, and is lit from above by small holes in the domes which cover it. The second is the Yeraltı Hammam, also known as the [[Underground Bath (Sheki)|Underground Bath]] or Abdulsalam Bath. In fact, it is located within the Juma Mosque, and only part of it is 4 metres below ground. The building is no longer used as a hammam.
===Egypt===
[[File:Hamam Inal (11).jpg|thumb|The [[Sultan Inal Hammam]] in [[Cairo]], dating from 1456 ([[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] period)]]
As in neighbouring regions, bathhouses had existed in Egypt for centuries before the [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|arrival of the Arab Muslims in Egypt]] in the 7th century. [[Greek baths|Greek bathhouses]] were present in [[Alexandria]], a capital of [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic culture]], as well as in other cities like [[Karanis]] in the [[Faiyum]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Baths in Egypt|url=https://www.karanisbath.com/ancient-baths-in-egypt|access-date=2020-09-29|website=karanisbath|language=en}}</ref> During the subsequent Islamic period, bathhouses continued to be built by Muslim rulers and patrons, sometimes as part of larger religious and civic complexes. Although not many have survived intact to the present day, numerous public baths were built by the [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimids]] (10th–12th centuries), the [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubids]] (12th–13th centuries), the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] (13th–16th centuries), and the Ottomans (16th–19th centuries).<ref>{{Cite book|last=MacKenzie|first=Neil D.|title=Ayyubid Cairo: A Topographical Study|publisher=American University in Cairo Press|year=1992|isbn=9781617977428|location=Cairo|pages=93–101}}</ref><ref name=":22">Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. 2007. ''Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture''. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.</ref> One well-preserved medieval example is the restored [[Sultan Inal Hammam|Hammam of Sultan Inal]], dating from 1456 and located at [[Bayn al-Qasrayn]] in Cairo.<ref name=":03">{{Cite book|last=Williams|first=Caroline|title=Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide|publisher=The American University in Cairo Press|year=2018|edition=7th|location=Cairo}}</ref> Private hammams were also built as part of palaces, with surviving examples at the [[Amir Taz Palace|Palace of Amir Taz]] (14th century) and the [[Egyptian National Military Museum|Harim Palace]] (19th century), and of local aristocratic mansions such as [[Bayt Al-Razzaz palace|Bayt al-Razzaz]] (15th–18th centuries) and [[Bayt Al-Suhaymi|Bayt al-Suhaymi]] (17th–18th centuries).<ref name=":03" /> In many Egyptian hammams a pool of hot water is present in the hot room and used for immersion and bathing,<ref name=":0" /> a feature shared with the hammams of Iran.<ref name=":11" />
Today, the cultural practice of visiting hammams has significantly receded in Egypt. Cairo contained an estimated 77 operational hammams at the beginning of the 19th century, but only 33 were operating in 1969 and only eight were still operating at the start of the 21st century, with many others abandoned or neglected.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raymond|first=André|date=1969|title=Les bains publics au Caire à Ia fin du XVIII siècle|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13556207.2008.10785032?journalCode=raco20|journal=Annales Islamologiques|volume=8|pages=129–165|doi=10.1080/13556207.2008.10785032|s2cid=113006369}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> Of the few still functioning hammams, many are also in precarious condition and scholars have indicated that they are likely to disappear or stop functioning in the near future.<ref name=":18">{{Cite journal|last1=Fadli|first1=Fodil|last2=Sibley|first2=Magda|date=2008|title=The Historic Hammams of Cairo: Safeguarding a Vanishing Heritage|journal=Journal of Architectural Conservation|volume=14|issue=3|pages=59–80|doi=10.1080/13556207.2008.10785032|s2cid=113006369}}</ref> A few hammams, mainly in the neighbourhoods of [[Islamic Cairo|Historic Cairo]], have been restored or earmarked for restoration as historic monuments, including the Sultan Inal Hammam, the monumental but ruined hammam of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad (behind the [[Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad|al-Mu'ayyad Mosque]]), the Hammam al-Gamaliyya (in the Gamaliya neighbourhood), the Hammam al-Sinaniya (in [[Boulaq|Bulaq]]), and the Hammam al-Sukariya (in [[Al-Darb al-Ahmar|Darb al-Ahmar]]).<ref name=":18" />
===Turkey===
[[File:Beyazit hammam DSCF6006.jpg|thumb|The [[Bayezid II Hamam|Bayezid II Hammam]] (originally part of the ''[[külliye]]'' of the [[Bayezid II Mosque, Istanbul|Bayezid II Mosque]]) was built at the beginning of the 16th century and now serves as a museum.|left]]
Public baths were a feature of life in [[Turkey]] in Ancient Greek and Roman times, and the [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuk Turks]] continued to build hammams here.<ref name=":052" /> The majority of historic hammams, however, survive from the Ottoman period (14th–20th centuries). Many examples of early Ottoman hammams remain, particularly in the early Ottoman capitals of [[Edirne]] and [[Bursa]], where many of their early structural and decorative features were established.<ref name=":8" /> Many were built in association with particular mosques or religious complexes (''külliye''s). Notable examples from the pre-1453 period include the Orhan Bey Hamam in Bursa (built around 1339<ref>{{Cite web|last=basin|title=Eski Aynalı Çarşı (Orhan Hamamı)|url=https://www.bursa.com.tr/eski-aynali-carsi-orhan-hamami-380.html|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Bursa.com.tr {{!}} Tüm Zamanların Güzel Şehri|language=tr|archive-date=26 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926154843/http://www.bursa.com.tr/eski-aynali-carsi-orhan-hamami-380.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>), the Demirtaş Hamam in Bursa (14th century<ref>{{Cite web|title=TİMURTAŞ (DEMİRTAŞ) PAŞA HAMAMI|url=http://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/bursa/gezilecekyer/timurtas-demirtas-pasa-hamami|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Kültür Portalı}}</ref>), the Hacı Hamza Hamam in [[İznik|Iznik]] (late 14th or early 15th century<ref name=":0522">{{Cite book|last1=Mordtmann|first1=J.H.|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|last2=Fehérvári|first2=G.|publisher=Brill|year=2012|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|chapter=Iznīḳ|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref>), the Çelebi Sultan Mehmet Hamam in [[Merzifon]] (1413<ref>{{Cite web|title=Eski Hamam, Merzifon|url=https://kulturenvanteri.com/yer/eski-hamam-merzifon/#17/40.873035/35.4655|access-date=2020-10-14|website=kulturenvanteri.com|date=7 April 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=merzifonpusula.com|title=ÇELEBİ SULTAN MEHMED HAMAMI|url=http://merzifonpusula.com/yazarlar/cuma-akbulut/celebi-sultan-mehmed-hamami/463/|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Pusula Gazetesi – Günlük Siyasi Gazete Merzifon – Amasya – Suluova – Taşova – Hamamözü – Göynücek Haberleri|language=tr-TR}}</ref>), the Mahkeme Hamam in Bursa (1421<ref>{{Cite web|title=MAHKEME (İBRAHİM PAŞA) HAMAMI|url=http://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/bursa/gezilecekyer/mahkeme-brahim-pasa-hamami|access-date=2020-10-15|website=Kültür Portalı}}</ref>), the Gazi Mihal Hamam in Edirne (1422, now partly ruined<ref>{{Cite web|title=GAZİ MİHAL BEY HAMAMI|url=http://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/edirne/kulturenvanteri/gazi-mihal-bey-hamami|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Kültür Portalı}}</ref>), the [[Emir Sultan Mosque|Emir Sultan]] Hamam in Bursa (1426<ref>{{Cite web|title=EMİR SULTAN HAMAMI|url=http://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/bursa/kulturenvanteri/emir-sultan-hamami|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Kültür Portalı}}</ref>), the Beylerbeyi Hamam in Edirne (1429, now partly ruined<ref>{{Cite web|title=BEYLERBEYİ HAMAMI|url=http://www.kulturportali.gov.tr/turkiye/edirne/kulturenvanteri/beylerbeyi-hamami|access-date=2020-10-14|website=Kültür Portalı}}</ref>), and the Karacabey Hamam in [[Ankara]] (1444<ref>{{Cite web|title=Hamamlar -|url=https://ankara.ktb.gov.tr/TR-152969/hamamlar.html|access-date=2020-10-14|website=ankara.ktb.gov.tr}}</ref>).[[File:ÇEKİRGE-ESKİ KAPLICA - panoramio - HALUK COMERTEL.jpg|thumb|The ''Eski Kaplıca'' ''Hamamı'' ('Old Thermal Baths') in [[Bursa]], dating from the 14th century and using one of Bursa's [[Hot spring|thermal springs]]]]
After the [[conquest of Constantinople]] in 1453, Istanbul became a centre of Ottoman architectural patronage. The city's oldest hammams include the [[Tahtakale Hamam]] (built soon after 1453), the [[Mahmut Pasha Hamam]] (built in 1466 and part of the [[Mahmut Pasha Mosque, Eminönü|Mahmut Pasha Mosque]] complex), the Gedik Ahmet Pasha Hamam (built in 1475), the [[Bayezid II Hamam]] (built some time between 1500 and 1507), and the Küçük Mustafa Pasha Hamam (built before 1512 near the [[Gül Mosque]]).<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" />
Several major hammams in the city were designed by the famous Ottoman architect [[Mimar Sinan]] in the 16th century. These include the Çinili Hamam (built in 1545 in the [[Zeyrek|Zeyrek neighbourhood]]), the [[Süleymaniye Hamam|Süleymaniye Hammam]] (part of the [[Süleymaniye Mosque]] complex built in 1550–1557), the Mihrimah Sultan Hamam (part of the [[Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Edirnekapı|Mihrimah Sultan Mosque]] complex built in 1562–1565), the Kılıç Ali Pasha Hamam (part of the [[Kılıç Ali Pasha Complex]] completed in 1580), as well as a lesser-known but architecturally interesting hammam in [[Ortaköy]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Freely|first=John|title=A History of Ottoman Architecture|publisher=WIT Press|year=2011|isbn=9781845645069}}</ref><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> The [[Çemberlitaş Hamamı|Çemberlitaş Hamam]] (on [[Mese (Constantinople)|Divanyolu Street]] in the [[Column of Constantine|Çemberlitaş]] neighbourhood), completed in 1584 or earlier, is also attributed to Mimar Sinan.<ref name=":10" /> The largest hammam designed by Sinan is the [[Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı|Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam]] which was commissioned by [[Suleiman the Magnificent|Süleyman I]]'s consort, [[Hurrem Sultan|Hürrem Sultan]], and completed in 1556 on the site of the historical [[Baths of Zeuxippus]] for the religious community of the nearby [[Hagia Sophia]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":10" /> Outside Istanbul, Sinan also designed the Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Hamam in Edirne around 1568–1569.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Bath in Edirne {{!}} Turkish Archaeological News|url=https://turkisharchaeonews.net/object/sokollu-mehmet-pasha-bath-edirne|access-date=2020-10-15|website=turkisharchaeonews.net|date=27 September 2017 }}</ref> Among the hammams built after the 16th century one of the most famous is the [[Cağaloğlu Hamam]], finished in 1741 and one of the last major hammams to be built in Istanbul.<ref name=":10" />
Turkey also has a number of [[hot spring]]s which have been developed as public baths for centuries. The Eski Kaplıca ("Old [[Spa|Thermal Baths]]") of Bursa, built by Sultan [[Murad I]] (ruled 1360–1389),<ref name=":0523">{{Cite book|last=Orhonlu|first=Cengiz|title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|publisher=Brill|year=2012|editor-last=Bearman|editor-first=P.|chapter=Ḳapli̊d̲j̲a|editor-last2=Bianquis|editor-first2=Th.|editor-last3=Bosworth|editor-first3=C.E.|editor-last4=van Donzel|editor-first4=E.|editor-last5=Heinrichs|editor-first5=W.P.}}</ref> and the nearby Yeni ("New") Kaplıca built by [[Rüstem Pasha]] in 1552,<ref name=":12" /> are two of the most notable examples and are still used today. Several older hot-spring baths were also built by the [[Sultanate of Rum|Seljuks]] in the 13th century and the [[Aq Qoyunlu|Akkoyunlu]] in the late 14th century, some of which are still operating today.<ref name=":0523" />
[[File:Divan Asia Istanbul Hamam 1140059.jpg|thumb|A modern hotel hammam catering to tourists in Istanbul]]
Although far fewer in number than in the past, many Turkish hammams still operate today. With the growth in tourism, some have been restored or modernised recently with differing degrees of historical authenticity.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":13" /><ref name=":14" /> Other hammam buildings have ceased functioning as public baths but have been repurposed as markets or cultural venues, as for example the [[Tahtakale Hamam]] in Istanbul which contains shops and cafes, the Hoca Paşa Hamam in Istanbul which is used for performances by whirling dervishes, the Küçük Mustafa Paşa Hamamı in Istanbul which is used for art exhibitions, and the Orhan Bey Hamam in Bursa which is part of the Covered Bazaar.<ref name=":14" /><ref name=":10" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Eski Aynalı Çarşı {{!}} Bursa, Turkey Attractions|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/turkey/bursa/attractions/eski-aynali-carsi/a/poi-sig/474334/360872|access-date=2020-10-15|website=Lonely Planet|language=en}}</ref> In some cases hamam buildings have been turned into storage depots or factories, though this has usually led to neglect and damage to their historic fabric.<ref name=":14" />
===Greece===
[[File:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 3.jpg|thumb|Hot room of the [[Bey Hamam]] in [[Thessaloniki]], [[Greece]], built in 1444|left]]
Greece once had many historic hammams dating from the Ottoman period, from the late 14th century to the 18th century. Two of the oldest remaining examples are the Gazi Evrenos Hamam in [[Giannitsa]], dating from 1392, and the Oruç Pasha Hammam in [[Didymoteicho]], dating from 1398.<ref name=":15" /> Most have been abandoned, demolished or survive in a state of decay, but recently a growing number have been restored and converted to serve new cultural functions as historic sites or exhibitions spaces. A 2004 study by Elena Kanetaki counted 60 remaining hammam buildings on Greek territory.<ref name=":15" />[[File:Yeni Hamam Baths (Rhodes) 01.jpg|thumb|Domes of the 16th-century Yeni Hamam on the skyline of [[Rhodes]]]]In [[Thessaloniki]], formerly a major Ottoman city, the [[Bey Hamam]] was built in 1444 by Sultan [[Murad II]]. It is a double bath, for men and women, with notable architectural decoration. The baths remained in use, called the Baths of Paradise, until 1968. They were restored by the [[Greek Archaeological Service]] and are now used as a cultural venue.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mazower|first=Mark|title=Salonica, City of Ghosts: Christians, Muslims and Jews 1430–1950|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|year=2007|isbn=9780307427571|pages=39–40}}</ref><ref name=":15" /><ref name=":16">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9XtBgAAQBAJ&q=The%20Rough%20Guide%20to%20Greece&pg=PP1|title=The Rough Guide to Greece|publisher=Rough Guides|year=2015|isbn=9780241216798}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Bey Hammam {{!}} Thessaloniki, Greece Attractions|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/northern-greece/thessaloniki/attractions/bey-hammam/a/poi-sig/468402/359498|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Lonely Planet|language=en}}</ref> The late 16th-century Yeni Hamam has also been partially restored and now serves as a music venue.<ref name=":15" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Yeni Hammam {{!}} Thessaloniki, Greece Attractions|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/greece/northern-greece/thessaloniki/attractions/yeni-hammam/a/poi-sig/468432/359498|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Lonely Planet|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":16" /> The Pasha Hamam, also known as the Phoenix Baths, was built circa 1520 or 1529 during the reign of [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] and operated until 1981.<ref name=":15" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Zacharopoulou |first=Georgia |date=2015 |title=Structural metric models of public ottoman baths in Thessaloniki, Greece |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303895518 |journal=12th International Conference on "Standardization, Prototypes and Quality: A Means of Balkan Countries' Collaboration" |pages=305–313}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Çi̇nçi̇n |first1=Seda Kaplan |last2=Çirpi |first2=Meltem Ezel |last3=Erdoğan |first3=Nevnihal |date=2016 |title=Ottoman Monumental Buildings in Thessaloniki Architectural Heritage |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/joeep/issue/35719/398206 |journal=JOEEP: Journal of Emerging Economies and Policy |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=73–84}}</ref> It now houses archeological finds from construction work for the Thessaloniki metro.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}
Elsewhere in Greece, the Abid Efendi Hamam, built between 1430 and 1669 near the Roman Forum in [[Athens]], restored in the 1990s and converted to the Center of Documentation in Body Embellishment.<ref name=":15" /> In [[Rhodes]], a double bath called the Yeni Hamam dates from the 16th century and was restored in 1992–1995. It is now one of only two Turkish baths still operating as a bathhouse in Greece.<ref name=":15" />
=== Cyprus ===
[[File:Nicosia 01-2017 img11 Omeriye Hammam.jpg|thumb|[[Ömeriye Hamam]], [[Nicosia]], [[Cyprus]]|alt=]]The [[Hamam Omerye Baths|Omeriye Baths]] in [[Nicosia]]/[[Lefkosia]], [[Cyprus]], date to the 15th century and form part of the larger complex of the [[Ömeriye Mosque]] (dedicated to the [[Caliphate|Caliph]] [[Omar]]). The complex was founded by [[Lala Mustafa Pasha]] in the 1570s, soon after the [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573)|Ottoman conquest of Cyprus]], repurposing the 14th-century [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] church of St. Mary which was damaged in the Ottoman siege.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book|last=Yıldız|first=Netice|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Evlsm2PnWNsC&q=%C3%96meriye%20Hamam&pg=PA117|title=Ottoman Cyprus: A Collection of Studies on History and Culture|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|year=2009|isbn=9783447058995|editor-last=Michael|editor-first=Michalis N.|pages=154–180|chapter=The Vakf Institution in Ottoman Cyprus|editor-last2=Gavriel|editor-first2=Eftihios|editor-last3=Kappler|editor-first3=Matthias}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Strohmeier|first=Martin|date=2015|title=Omeriye: A Mosque in Nicosia|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jome/4/1/article-p58_4.xml|journal=Journal of Muslims in Europe|volume=4|pages=58–69|doi=10.1163/22117954-12341295}}</ref> The hamam was restored in 2002–2004 as part of the Lefkosia Master Plan and is still in use today.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PV2fDAAAQBAJ&q=omeriye%20Hamam%20cyprus&pg=PT257|title=The Rough Guide to Cyprus|publisher=Rough Guides|year=2016|isbn=9780241291580}}</ref> In 2005 it won a [[Europa Nostra]] award for conservations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Best in Heritage |url=https://presentations.thebestinheritage.com/2007/Omeriye%20Ottoman%20Baths |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=presentations.thebestinheritage.com}}</ref>
On the Turkish side of the Cypriot border in [[Lefkoşa]], the [[Büyük Hamam]]ı dates from the same period and is still in operation for men and women.<ref name=":17" />
=== North Macedonia ===
Some significant historic Ottoman hammams have also been preserved in [[North Macedonia]]. Two of the major examples in [[Skopje]] are now part of the [[National Gallery of Macedonia]]: the Daut Pasha Hamam (built in the late 15th century) and the [[Čifte Hammam]] (mid-15th century).<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":19" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Daut Pasha Hamam – Nationalgallery.mk|url=https://nationalgallery.mk/daut-pasha-hamam/?lang=en|access-date=2020-10-16|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Cifte Hammam – Nationalgallery.mk|url=https://nationalgallery.mk/cifte-hammam/?lang=en|access-date=2020-10-16|language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Bulgaria ===
The city of [[Plovdiv]], which was the most important city in the area during Ottoman rule, had eight baths in the mid-17th century when [[Evliya Çelebi]] visited.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FİLİBE - TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi |url=https://islamansiklopedisi.org.tr/filibe |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi |language=tr}}</ref> Of these, only two have survived .<ref name=":23">{{Cite web |title=The baths in ancient Plovdiv |url=https://lostinplovdiv.com/en/articles/the-baths-in-ancient-plovdiv |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=lostinplovdiv.com}}</ref> The best-preserved is the large [https://plovdivbg.info/objects/chifte-banya-old-time-baths-a-contemporary-art-center/?lang=en Chifte Banya] or Çifte Hamam (also known as the Ancient Bath), which now serves as an art gallery.<ref name=":23" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-07-29 |title=A local's guide to Plovdiv, Bulgaria: 10 top tips |url=http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jul/29/locals-guide-to-plovdiv-bulgaria-10-top-tips-capital-of-culture |access-date=2022-03-07 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> It was built in the 1460s, probably by [[İsfendiyar Bey|Isfandiyaroğlu Ismail Bey]], the deposed ruler of the [[Isfendiyarids|Isfendiyarid Beylik]] in Anatolia. It is one of the largest preserved Ottoman hammams in the Balkans and its decoration includes some [[muqarnas]].<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=M. Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan |location= |pages= |chapter=Plovdiv |editor-last2=S. Blair |editor-first2=Sheila}}</ref>
===Hungary===
[[Image:Torok furdo Budapest Ganz utca PB010341-lev-1000.jpg|thumb|Király Baths building on Ganz Street, [[Budapest]]]][[Budapest]], the [[Spas in Budapest|'City of Spas']], has four Turkish baths, all from the 16th century: [[Rudas Baths]], [[Király Baths]], [[Rácz Thermal Bath]], and Veli bej (Császár) Bath (reopened to the public in December 2012).<ref>{{Cite web |title=A guide to Budapest's thermal baths |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/a-guide-to-budapests-thermal-baths |access-date=2022-08-13 |website=Lonely Planet |language=en}}</ref> Currently only Rudas and Veli bej are open to the public, Rácz was closed in 2003 while Király was closed in 2020 for renovations. [[Eger]] also has a working hammam, simply called Török Fürdő (Turkish Bath), from the early 17th century.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Lonely Planet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vnAqDwAAQBAJ&dq=eger+t%C3%B6r%C3%B6k+f%C3%BCrd%C5%91&pg=PT605|title=Lonely Planet Budapest & Hungary|last2=Fallon|first2=Steve|last3=Kaminski|first3=Anna|publisher=Lonely Planet|year=2017|isbn=978-1-78701-065-9|language=en}}</ref>
===India and Pakistan===
Public baths have ancient precedents in [[History of India|Indian civilisation]]. The [[Great Bath, Mohenjo-daro|Great Bath]] located in present-day [[Pakistan]] is a notable example dating from the 3rd millennium BC at the archeological site of [[Mohenjo-daro]] in the [[Indus River|Indus Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Great Bath {{!}} Definition, Description, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Great-Bath-Mohenjo-daro|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Islamic hammams were introduced after the [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|spread of Muslim rule in the subcontinent]] starting mainly with the [[Delhi Sultanate]] in the 13th century and continuing through the later [[Mughal Empire|Mughal period]] (16th–19th centuries). Historically, however, public bathhouses in the Indian subcontinent were less common and less important than in other Muslim territories such as the  Middle East and North Africa. This  was due to the fact that, unlike most cities in those regions, water was readily available across much of India, making hammams less essential for bathing and performing [[Ghusl|full ablutions]]. While there were many elaborate hammams in private palaces and mansions, few Indian hammams were as important as those of Muslim cities further west.<ref name=":20" />
[[Delhi]], [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] and [[Bhopal]] in [[India]] still have multiple working Turkish baths, which date back to the Mughal period in the early 16th century.<ref name="siasat">{{cite news| title=Turkish bath centre defunct at Nizamia general hospital| url=http://www.siasat.com/english/news/turkish-bath-centre-defunct-nizamia-general-hospital| publisher=siasat.com| date=11 January 2012| access-date=12 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Where are those Turkish baths?| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Where-are-those-Turkish-baths/articleshow/731633.cms| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302045802/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2004-06-11/delhi/27164199_1_intach-haveli-indian-national-trust| url-status=live| archive-date=2 March 2013| date=11 June 2004| newspaper=[[The Times of India]]| access-date=12 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Centre keen on hammam| url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-27/bhopal/30446875_1_steam-chamber-bath| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104213103/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-27/bhopal/30446875_1_steam-chamber-bath| url-status=dead| archive-date=4 January 2014| date=27 November 2011| newspaper=[[The Times of India]]| access-date=12 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Hyderabad Attractions| url=http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/asia/india/hyderabad/33213/golconda-fort/attraction-detail.html| newspaper=The New York Times| date=12 January 2012| access-date=12 January 2012| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120043953/http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/asia/india/hyderabad/33213/golconda-fort/attraction-detail.html| archive-date=20 November 2012| df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref>Syed Zillur Rahman, Hammam – Past and Present, Newsletter of Ibn Sina Academy 2012, Volume 12 No 1: 10–16</ref> Two prominent examples are the [[Hammam-e-Qadimi]] and [[Hammam (Red Fort)|Hammam-e-Lal Qila]].<ref name="Gianani2016">{{cite web|url=http://www.natgeotraveller.in/bhopals-300-year-old-hidden-hammam/|title=Bhopal's 300-Year-Old Hidden Hammam|last=Gianani|first=Kareena|date=22 June 2016|publisher=[[National Geographic]]|language=en|access-date=28 February 2018}}</ref>
In Pakistan, [[Shahi Hammam]] or the Royal Bathhouse of [[Lahore]], located in the historic [[Walled City of Lahore|Walled City]], is one of the best preserved examples of a Mughal-era hammam. It was built in 1634 by the Mughal governor of Lahore, Hakim Ilmuddin Ansari, during the reign of Emperor [[Shah Jahan]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=orientalarchitecture.com|title=Shahi Hammam Bathhouse, Lahore, Pakistan|url=https://www.orientalarchitecture.com/sid/836/pakistan/lahore/shahi-hammam-bathhouse|access-date=2020-10-16|website=Asian Architecture|language=EN}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=A Mughal bathhouse renewed: Shahi Hammam, Lahore Walled City, Pakistan {{!}} Aga Khan Development Network|url=https://www.akdn.org/gallery/mughal-bathhouse-renewed-shahi-hammam-lahore-walled-city-pakistan|access-date=2020-10-16|website=www.akdn.org}}</ref><gallery widths="150" heights="150">
File:Hammam, Mandu 04.jpg|Dome of a hammam in [[Mandu, Madhya Pradesh|Mandu]], [[India]]
File:Salle du hammam du palais Shahi Qila (Burhanpur, Inde) (16864981308).jpg|The hammam of the [[Shahi Qila, Burhanpur|Shahi Qila Palace]] in [[Burhanpur]], India (17th century)
File:Central dome and fresco painting of Wazir Khan Hammam.jpg|The 17th-century [[Shahi Hammam]] in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]], is elaborately decorated with [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]]-era frescoes.
File:Jaunpur Fort 12.jpg|Hammam inside [[Shahi Qila, Jaunpur]]
</gallery>
===Crimea (Ukraine)===
In Bakhchisarai, by order of the Crimean Khan Sahib I Geray, the Sarı-Güzel hamam was built in 1532.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |title=Бахчисарайский историко-культурный и археологический музей-заповедник – Баня Сары-Гузель |url=https://handvorec.ru/pamyatniki/hanskij-dvorets/historymus/guzel/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |language=ru-RU}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Память Крыма. Выпуск 67. Хансарай: Баня Сары-Гузель | date=26 April 2022 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EjN9LB5sew |access-date=2024-03-12 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-15 |title=Хансарай. Часть 4: Баня Сары-Гузель |url=https://avdet.org/2023/08/15/hansaraj-chast-4-banya-sary-guzel/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=avdet.org |language=ru-RU}}</ref>
== Hammams in Western Europe ==
{{See also|Victorian Turkish baths}}
Aside from Al-Andalus (the mainly Spanish and Portuguese parts of Europe which were Muslim ruled until 1492) modern Western Europe has no legacy of historic hammams. Nevertheless, derivatively named Hummums existed in London's [[Covent Garden]] in the first half of the 18th century.<ref>'[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol36/pp82-84 The Piazza: the social decline of the Piazza'] '''In:''' ''Survey of London. Vol 36: Covent Garden'' (London, 1970) pp.82-84. British History Online. Retrieved 3 May 2024</ref> Sweating and bathing facilities were located there for some part of that period and, at other times, coffee houses, hotels, and houses of ill repute [[bagnio|(bagnios)]] merged with, or replaced them, until a major fire destroyed them in 1768. But there have been no historic hammam structures in London which could have been considered part of the Islamic hammam tradition.
=== The British Isles in the 19th century ===
[[File:(1829) MADDEN, Richard Robert in Syrian Costume.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.525|Madden, writer, in Syrian Costume]][[File:Edward William Lane.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Edward William Lane, orientalist, in costume]]In the 19th century, readers of books in English were not ignorant of the existence of hammams, and there was no shortage of contemporary accounts describing what they were, and how travellers were fascinated by them. Authors such as [[Richard Robert Madden]] (in 1829),<ref>Madden, Richard Robert (1829). ''Travels in Turkey, Egypt, Nubia, and Palestine, in 1824, 1825, 1826, and 1827]''. (London: Colburn)</ref> [[Edward William Lane]] (in 1836),<ref>Lane, Edward William. (1836). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044010450294&seq=5 ''An account of the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians: written in Egypt during the years 1833, -34, and -35, partly from notes made during a former visit to that country in the years 1825, -26, -27, and -28'']. (London: Knight)</ref> and, in lighter vein, [[William Makepeace Thackeray]] (in 1846),<ref>Thackeray, William Makepeace. (1846). [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc2.ark:/13960/t1dj5dg9s&seq=9 ''Notes of a journey from Cornhill to grand Cairo, by way of Lisbon, Athens, Constantinople, and Jerusalem: performed in the steamers of the Peninsular and oriental company.''] (London: Chapman and Hall)</ref> had described them in their books, though most were typically [[orientalism|orientalist]] in approach. In 1828, an anonymous (and still unknown) author self-published ''Strictures on the personal cleanliness of the English, with a description of the hammams of the Turks, &c.''<ref>''Strictures on the personal cleanliness of the English with a description of the hamams of the Turks and an attempt to shew their conformity with the baths of the antient Romans, etc.'' (London: printed for the author; Pisa: printed by N. Capurro, 1828)</ref> in a limited edition of 250 copies. It was distributed by the radical publisher of ''The Republican'', [[Richard Carlile]], who had realised that in ''Strictures'' the author was not denigrating the Turks in the manner of orientalist authors; on the contrary, he was positioning them as a people to be emulated, by describing customs which his readers should adopt themselves. The unknown author wrote that he had wanted "to erect baths at the expense of government in different parts of London, after the manner of the Roman ''thermæ'', publicly endowed like hospitals for the use of the people," and that in 1818 he had unsuccessfully tried to interest George III in his project.
[[File:David Urquhart (1805-1877).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|David Urquhart]]In 1850, David Urquhart’s travel book, ''The Pillars of Hercules,'' was published.<ref>Urquhart, David. (1850). ''The Pillars of Hercules, or, a narrative of travels in Spain & Morocco in 1848''. (London: Bentley)</ref> This recounted his travels in Morocco and Spain in 1848. Two chapters described the hammams of Morocco and Turkey in considerable detail, and Urquhart became an advocate of what were then known in the English-speaking world as "Turkish baths" because those most often described in travel books were located in Turkey and the Ottoman Empire.
[[File:Richard Barter.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|Dr Richard Barter]]The book had no direct impact on the construction of a hammam until it was read in 1856 by [[Richard Barter (physician)|Dr Richard Barter]], an Irish physician and [[Hydrotherapy|hydropathist]]. Barter, to the consternation of orthodox hydropathists, was already using the vapour bath cabinet therapeutically at St&nbsp;Ann's, his hydropathic establishment near Cork. He immediately realised that the bath described by Urquhart was a major improvement on his vapour cabinets. He contacted Urquhart and offered him men, money, and materials, "besides a number of patients upon whom experiments might be made", if he would visit St&nbsp;Ann's, and build one for their use.<ref>'Testimonial to R Barter, Esq’. ''Cork Constitution'' (7 June 1856)</ref>
This first experimental beehive-shaped bath was unsuccessful, mainly because it had not been possible to heat the air to the required high temperature.<ref name="Recollections">''Recollections of the late Dr Barter…''. (1875). (Dublin: William McGee) p.16</ref> This is the only documented 19th century attempt to build a hammam in Western Europe, after which the attempt was abandoned.
Instead, Dr Barter sent his architect, also named [[Richard Barter (sculptor)|Richard Barter]] but unrelated to him,<ref>Crosbie, Thomas (1896). 'Necrology: Richard Barter, Sculptor'. ''Journal of the Cork Historical and Archæological Society'' pp.85–88.</ref>{{r|Recollections|p=p.36}} to Rome to study how the ancient ''thermae'' were constructed there. On his return he designed and supervised the building of what has become known as the first [[Victorian Turkish baths|Victorian Turkish bath]]—a hot-air bath using hot ''dry'' air instead of the moist air of the hammam.<ref name="Metcalfe1912">Metcalfe, Richard (1912) ''The rise and progress of hydropathy in England and Scotland'' (London: Simpkin, Marshall) p.130</ref>
Back in England the following year (1857), Urquhart helped build the first such bath in Manchester.<ref>Potter, William ‘The Turkish bath’ ''Sheffield Free Press'' (18 July 1857) p.3</ref> As a Turcophile, he argued strongly for calling the new bath a Turkish bath, though others unsuccessfully maintained that it should be called an Anglo-Roman bath,<ref>Drake, Francis. (1862). ''The Anglo-Roman or ‘Turkish bath’: its history, proper construction, present status and various uses''. (London: Ward & Lock)</ref> or as in Germany and elsewhere, the Irish,<ref>Dunlop, Durham. (1880). ''The philosophy of the bath. 4th ed.'' London: W Kent) p.176</ref> or Irish-Roman bath.<ref>'The Irish-Roman Bath' ''Irish-Farmers' Gazette'' (1 September 1866) p.322</ref>
But all future 19th century hot-air baths in the British Isles were either based on the Irish-Roman model or later, and then only occasionally towards the end of the century, on the Russian steam bath. After Barter's initial attempt, the hammam is not recorded as appearing again in Western Europe until after World War I.
=== France, post World War I ===
[[File:Grande Mosquée de Paris @ Paris (31443486675).jpg|thumb|Grande Mosquée de Paris, rue Geoffroy-Saint-Hilaire, 2016. The separate entrance through a tearoom leads to the hammam (on the left)]]The first permanent mosque in modern  France, [[Grand Mosque of Paris|La Grande Mosquée de Paris et Institut musulman]], was not opened till 1926. Covering an area of 7,500 square metres, it also includes a ''madrasa'' (school), library, conference hall and, beyond the Moorish gardens, an annexe housing a hammam and a tearoom with a direct entrance to the street.
The building commemorates the many thousand Muslims who died fighting for France during World War I.<ref>Ministère de la culture (France). [http://patrimoine-de-france.com/paris/paris-5eme-arrondissement/mosquee-de-paris-et-institut-musulman-0.php ''Mosquée de Paris et Institut musulman'']</ref> It was built by architects Robert Fournez, Maurice Mantout, and Charles Heubès, following the plans of Maurice Tranchant de Lunel, General Inspector of Fine Arts in Morocco. Constructed in reinforced concrete, the decorative green tiles, earthenware, mosaics, and wrought iron work come from Maghreb countries, and were fitted by craft workers from there. In 1983, the building was inscribed in the [[Base Mérimée]], the database of French monumental and architectural heritage, created and maintained by the French Ministry of Culture.<ref>Ministère de la Culture (France). (1983) [https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA00088481 'Mosquée de Paris et Institut musulman'] ''POP: la plateforme ouverte du patrimoine.'' Retrieved 13 May 2024</ref>
The hammam was originally open at separate times for men and women.<ref>Reeves, Tom. (2010). ''Paris insights: an anthology'' (Paris: Discover Paris!) pp.35-36</ref> It can be seen as it was in the mid 1960s, because it appears in a scene in Gérard Oury's French-British comedy film ''[[La Grande Vadrouille]]''.<ref>''La Grande Vadrouille: a film by Gérard Oury''. 50th anniversary edition 2016. (London: Studio Canal). 119 mins. French with English subtitles. DVD OPTD3062</ref> Bathers are shown being served drinks while reclining on long continuous cushioned platforms which are divided into cubicles by bead curtains. The cool wading pool in one of the hot rooms also appears.
Some time after a major refurbishment in the 2010s, the hammam's admission policy changed. It appears that the mosque authorities now lease it to a private company which runs it, for women only, as a wellness centre with beauty treatments.{{efn|[https://hipparis.com/spa-therapy-navigating-paris-hammam-scene/ 'Spa therapy: navigating Paris' hammam scene' ''Hip Paris''. Retrieved 12 May 2024] is an illustrated account of a visit to the mosque's hammam made by the writer Badaude in 2021.}}
=== Europe, post World War II ===
[[File:Hammam, Marseille (France).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|La Bastide des Bains, rue Sainte, Marseille (France)]]The second half of the 20th century saw a new generation of  war-weary, air-travelling holidaymakers returning from Turkey and other countries where they had discovered the hammam. But their discovery was not specifically seen as an extremely important part of Islamic culture, but as what had become, as a result of diminishing local use, a significant tourist leisure attraction.
It was not long before baths based on the internal appearance of the hammam, with its central area and ''göbek tasi'' (belly-stone), started appearing in European hotels, health spas, and even as standalone hammam establishments. In Spain, for example, after nearly five centuries' absence, hammams are reappearing in cities such as Cordoba, Granada, Seville, and Madrid.<ref>Peteet, Julie (2024). ''The hammam through time and space''. Gender, culture, and politics in the Middle East. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press. pp.172—173. ISBN 978-0-8156-3832-2</ref> Drawing on centuries of mixed traditions, their signs in Spanish and English, they are promoting a new view of the hammam to a younger generation of bathers, thereby attracting both tourists and locals, a trend currently developing around the continent.
==Cultural representations of the hammam==
=== Art ===
Within the Muslim world, hammams appeared in some artistic depictions such as [[Persian miniature]]s, including the work of [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād]] (or Bihzad).<ref name=":052" />
<gallery heights="200" widths="150" perrow="5">
File:Bihhzad 001.jpg|Bathhouse scene by [[Kamāl ud-Dīn Behzād]], 1495
File:Enderuni2.jpg|Women's bath, illustration from [[Enderûnlu Fâzıl|Husein Fâzıl-i Enderuni]]'s ''Zanan-Name'', 18th century
</gallery>
In [[Western world|Western]] art, especially in the context of 19th-century [[Orientalism]], the hammam is often portrayed as a place of sexual looseness, disinhibition and mystery. These Orientalist ideas paint the Arab or Turkish "[[Other (philosophy)|other]]" as mystical and sensuous, lacking morality in comparison to their Western counterparts.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Staats |first=Valerie|title=Ritual, Strategy, or Convention: Social Meanings in the Traditional Women's Baths in Morocco|journal=Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies|year=1994 |volume=14|issue=3 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.2307/3346678|jstor=3346678}}</ref> A famous painting by [[Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres]], ''Le Bain Turc'' ("[[The Turkish Bath]]"), depicts these spaces as magical and sexual. There are several women touching themselves or one another sensually, while some dance to music played by the woman in the centre of the painting. More recently, [[Sylvia Sleigh]], has painted a gender-reversal take on Ingres's painting. Her version also counters Ingres's orientalist fantasy brothel figures by using her husband and some of her friends as real life models in more realistic surroundings.
<gallery class=center heights="200" widths="150" perrow="3">
File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - Moorish bath.jpg|''Le Hamam'', by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1870
File:Gerome baigneuses.jpg|''Baigneuses'', by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]], ''circa'' 1889
File:Jean-Léon Gérôme - After the Bath.jpg|''Après le bain'', by [[Jean-Léon Gérôme]]
File:Le Bain Turc, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres: ''[[The Turkish Bath]]'', 1862 ([[Louvre]], Paris)
File:Sylvia_Sleigh-The_Turkish_Bath-1973.jpg|Sylvia Sleigh: ''The Turkish bath'', 1972 (Smart Museum, University of Chicago)
</gallery>
=== Movies ===
Turkish director [[Ferzan Özpetek]]'s 1997 film ''[[Hamam (film)|Hamam]]'' told the story of a man who inherited a hammam in Istanbul from his aunt, restored it and found a new life for himself in the process.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Anita |date=1998-11-25 |title=FILM REVIEW; Home Is Where the Bath Is: Finding Happiness |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/25/movies/film-review-home-is-where-the-bath-is-finding-happiness.html |access-date=2022-08-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
In Zélie Elkihel's 5 minute animation, ''Hammam'', a French-Moroccan woman shares a memory of her first enlightening visit to a hammam when she was 12.<ref>Elkihel, Zélie. (2022) ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6gvflgCyh0 Hammam]'' Film. 5 min. French; English subtitles. Ecole Emile Cohl. Retrieved 16 May 2024.</ref>
=== Literature ===
Visiting a hammam was very much a part of the Western tourist experience from the 18th century onwards and many travellers left accounts of what they had seen in the bathhouses. One such was the British diplomat's wife, [[Lady Mary Wortley Montagu]], who visited a hammam in [[Sofia]] in [[Bulgaria]] in 1717 and wrote about it in her ''Turkish Embassy Letters'', first published in 1763.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Montagu |first=Lady Mary Wortley |title=The Turkish Embassy Letters |publisher=Virago |year=1994 |isbn=1853816795 |edition=1st |location=London |pages=57–60 |language=English}}</ref> In 1836 another British woman, the traveller and novelist, [[Julia Pardoe]], left a description of taking part in the hammam ritual in [[Constantinople]]/[[Istanbul]] in her book ''The City of the Sultan and Domestic Manners of the'' ''Turks'', published in 1838.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pardoe |first=Julia |title=The City of the Sultan and Domestic Manners of the Turks |publisher=Henry Colburn |year=1838 |edition=2nd |location=London |language=English}}</ref> In 1814 another wife of a British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, [[Henrietta Liston]], visited a hammam in [[Bursa]] and wrote about it in her belatedly published diary.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Henrietta Liston's Travels: The Turkish Journals, 1812-1820 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2020 |isbn=9781474467360 |edition=1st |location=Edinburgh |pages=178–79 |language=English}}</ref> In her ''Romance of the Bosphorus'', [[Dorina Neave|Dorina Clifton]], a British woman who grew up in Constantinople/Istanbul, left a rare account of a visit to a local hammam in [[Kandilli, Üsküdar|Kandilli]], one of the [[Bosporus|Bosphorus]] villages, before the First World War.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neave |first=Dorina Lady |title=Romance of the Bosphorus |publisher=Hutchinson |year=1949 |edition=1st |location=London |pages=37–8 |language=English}}</ref> Several more contemporary accounts of using hammams in Turkey appeared in ''Tales from the Expat Harem'', published in 2005.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey |publisher=Doğan Kitap |year=2005 |isbn=9752933726 |edition=1st |location=Istanbul |pages=105–51 |language=English}}</ref>
==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[Gellért Baths]]
*[[Hydrotherapy]]
*[[Jjimjilbang]], the Korean equivalent
*[[Moorish Baths, Gibraltar]]
*[[Onsen]] and [[sentō]], the Japanese equivalents
*[[Steam shower]]
*[[Sauna]]{{div col end}}
==Notes==
{{notelist}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*{{citation |last1=Meunier |first1=Pascal |year=2005 |title=Hammams |first2=Maud|last2=Tyckaert |publisher=Dakota |location=Paris |isbn=2-84640-148-9}}
*{{citation |last=Peteet |first=Julie |year=2024 |title=The hammam through time and space (Gender, culture, and politics in the Middle East) |publisher=Syracuse University Press |location=Syracuse, New York |isbn=978-0-8156-3832-2}}
*{{citation |last1=Yılmazkaya |first1=Orhan |year=2005 |title=A Light onto a Tradition and Culture: Turkish baths: a Guide to the Historic Turkish Baths of Istanbul |first2=Ogurlu |last2=Deniz |edition=2 |publisher=Çitlembik |isbn=978-975-6663-80-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=psdNPwAACAAJ}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Hammams}}
*[[Michael Palin]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij8YuHIpOjw at Turkish baths in Istanbul – BBC] (From [[Pole to Pole]]) uploaded by [[BBC Worldwide]] to [[YouTube]]
*[http://turkishtravelblog.com/turkish-hamam-bath/ The Turkish Bath Experience]
{{Islamic architecture}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Nudity}}
[[Category:Hammams| ]]
[[Category:Bathing]]
[[Category:Ottoman baths|*]]
[[Category:Islamic architecture]]
[[Category:Ottoman architecture]]
[[Category:Culture of Turkey]]
[[Category:Sauna]]
[[Category:Architecture in Iran]]