Hammam: Difference between revisions

A massage in a Turkish bathhammam 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.

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]]]]

File:Jaunpur Fort 12.jpg|Jaunpur Fort 12|Hammam inside [[Shahi Qila, Jaunpur]]

[[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 bytheir nowdiscovery they werewas not discoveringspecifically it specificallyseen 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—aestablishments. 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 continuingdeveloping around the continent.