Hammam: Encyclopedia II - Hammam - Architecture

Hammam - Architecture

The hammam combines the functionality and the structural elements of its predecessors in Anatolia, the Roman thermae and Byzantine baths, with the Turkish-Muslim tradition of bathing, ritual cleansing and respect of water. It is also known that Arabs have built many of their own version of the Greek-Roman baths they encountered following their conquests of Alexandria. However, the Turkish hammam has a more improved style and functionality from these structures that emerged as annex buildings of mosques or as re-use of the remaining Roman baths.

The hammams in the Ottoman culture started out as structural elements serving as annexes to mosques, however quickly evolved into institutions and eventually with the works of the Ottoman architect Sinan, into monumental structural complexes, the finest example being the Çemberlitaş Hammam in Istanbul, built in 1584.

A typical hammam consists of three interconnected basic rooms similar to its Roman ancestors: the sıcaklık (or hararet -caldarium) which is the hot room, the warm room (tepidarium) which is the intermediate room and the soğukluk which is the cool room.

Sıcaklık which usually has a large dome decorated with small glass windows that create a half-light, contains a large marble stone at the center where the customers lie on, an niches with fountains in the corners. This room is for soaking up steam and getting scrub massages. The warm room is used for washing up with soap and water and the soğukluk is to relax, dress up, have a refreshing drink and where available, nap in private cubicles after the massage. Few of the hammams is Istanbul also contain mikvehs, ritual cleansing baths for Jewish women.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Architecture", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki