Turkish Bath in Istanbul

About Turkish Bath in Istanbul

HISTORICAL CEMBERLITAS BATH

AT ENTRANCE

If you want to bath in Çemberlitaş Hammı, which has been functioning since 1584, one of the most authentic hammams on earth, we will greet you at the entrance. You pick the services you want, collect your receipt and move on to the changing area. Once you’ve taken your clothes off and wrapped the “peştamal” (a traditional cotton and silk bathing wrap) round you, we kindly suggest that you lock your locker, take your key and head to the second room where the “göbek taşı” (central heated marble platform) is located.

GÖBEK TAŞI AND SWEATING

This room is known as the hot room ‘’Sıcaklık’’. The large hot-marble base is at the middle and marble washbasins and bath cubicles are situated on the edges. We recommend you sit or lie down on the marble floor for some time, to sweat. These are the typical moments of a Turkish bath. The light from our dome, steam and sweat awakens all the cells of you body and prepares you for water. You ‘re good to bathe now.

SELF SERVICE BATH
You can wash yourself by walking to one of the marble basins and bath with traditional copper bowls and beautiful Çemberlitaş Hamamı soaps after relaxing and sweating.

SCRUBBING, BUBBLES AND SULTAN’S BATH

If you want to enjoy centuries old Çemberlitaş Hamami and feel like a sultan, leave yourself to the capable hands of our attendants after sweating. We will you a fine scrub and massage for 15 minutes, every cell in your body will start breathing, your blood circulation will speed up, dead cells will be removed and your body will regenerate. Leave yourself to the magnificent water after the scrub and massage and allow our attendant to wash you in the basin of marble. Every inch of you and your soul will feel the water.

AROMATHERAPHY OIL MASSAGE

Massage with oil made from flowers produced for Çemberlitaş Hamamı will reawaken you from stress and give you a peaceful and relaxed feeling. Your body and soul will be touched by pleasant fragrances. You are at the Çemberlitaş Hamami in Istanbul, and that’s the end of it.

INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE

A special service given to our guests in Çemberlitaş Hamamı is Indian Head Massage, which has been practiced for hundreds of years. Your back and neck will lose their rigidity for 30 minutes, the pain will decrease and you will be relieved of debilitating headaches.

CLAY MASK

The healing clay mask is used to rid the skin of excess oil and dirt on the face and neck. This also helps your skin recover moisture, opens up your pores, and strengthens the tightness of your skin.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CEMBERLITAS BATH
• Çemberlitas Bath is located in the heart of Istanbul ‘s greatest monuments, on Çemberlitas Square on the Divanyolu Street. It is next to the Vezirhan monument built by Constantine I (324-327). The Kopreli Mahmoud Pasa complex, which houses a mosque, school and tombs, is directly opposite the bath, next to the VezirHan and the old university building. Near the bathrooms are the tomb of Sultan Mahmoud II and its treasure, the Köprülü Library, the Atik Pasha Mosque and the school and tomb of Alibaba.

• In order to provide income for the Valide-i Atik Charity complex in Toptasi, Uskudar, the Bath was founded by Nurbanu Sultan, wife of Selim II and mom of Murat III. The bath is one of the structures that the architect, Sinan, designed back in 1584, according to Tuhfet’ül mârin (1).

• The Çemberlitas Hamam was planned as a double bath with two similar facilities. The men’s entry is on Vezir Han Road. As the road has expanded over time, the entrance is now deeper and is ten steps below the road. There are eaves over the entrance and there is an inscription in three columns on top of the entry door with six lines. The women must have entered the bath from the Divanyolu Road near the tomb of Sultan Mahmut in the past, but today women use the men’s entrance and continue to their separate section through a side door.

• When Divanyolu Street was extended in 1868, part of the women’s section dressing room was lost. The cut off side of the building had a wall closed with rectangular windows on the bottom, and star shaped windows on the top. The men’s and women’s changing rooms are all enclosed by wide cupolas. There are three layers of changing rooms beneath these cupolas, which in the past years were lit by windows known as “roof lanterns.” Today the lantern still remains in its original condition in the women’s section. The dome of this lantern is built on fine columns and decorated with elegance. The dressing room for men, known today as the “cold area,” is a calm and relaxed place that is used for resting and waiting.

• Each heated area of the bath is covered with three domes. The toilets can be reached from this area and were built as an extension of the actual building. You enter the heated bath area from this hot transition area through a wooden door built under the central dome. The architecture of this hot area is unusual because it is not entirely in line with typical bath designs in this city. This can be clarified by the fact that architect Sinan liked to experiment in his work and also liked to be involved closely with the construction of this structure. This space is formed like a square on the outside, but the inner dimensions are formed like a circle of 12 columns and makes a 12-cornered polygon. In a room consisting of four outer corners outside the polygon the Architect perfectly positioned the domed, private bath cubicles, the hallway. Between the cubicles are four anterooms. Through these anterooms, one enters the hot area. The large dome, which consists of the hottest part, is formed by long arches on the columns with the help of baklava-shaped heads. The cubicles are isolated by marble walls of tulip shapes from the central room. These divisors are engraved on both ends. You can enter the private cubicles through the arched door in front of them. Couplets are engraved on the front, with blossoms covering the triangular shaped top parts. There are 38 washing stalls in the bathroom. Directly beneath the large dome sits the multi-layered main base. The glass globe, ‘elephant eyes’ in the overhead dome, catching light from all angles, illuminates this large heated base. This building dates back to Sinan’s last time, when he mixed simplicity, beauty and serenity with his long experience and talent without sacrificing his style. Thus, Turkish and international scholars, academics, artists, film-makers, media practitioners and students tend to focus on his bath’s architecture.