I have been to a Hamam only once before I visited the one at Swissotel Istanbul and I can’t find a single resemblance in between the two other than the marble stones. My first visit to one was in Burdur, Turkey, half way through my military training. At that point I was a ball of dirt who hadn’t (like many others) showered for nine days. So, I dived myself into the Hamam at the hotel and surrendered my hygiene into the hands of the tellak (the staff that soaps and scrubs the body).
Turkish Bath, or Hamam as we know it, evolved during the Ottoman Empire and brought together the best aspects of the Roman, Byzantine and the Arabic baths. It housed the highest quality marble stones, consisted of three interconnected rooms (the hot room, the warm room and the cool room), welcomed natural light from the tiny windows on its roof and was decorated with oriental carvings painted in gold. The Hamam was a place of social gathering as much as it was a bath. From wedding preparations to other celebrations, it was used as the preliminary place to cleanse and interact.
Thanks to my friend, Yusuf‘s suggestion, we prepped up for another round of Hamam right after the conclusion of our military training. Our destination was Swissotel Istanbul. With a full renovation in 2008 and the management genius of Singapore’s Raffles Hotels’ Amrita Spa, the facilities and the service at Swissotel mesmerized both of us.
From the towels to the green apples served, there isn’t a single thing here one can complain about. So unlike our ancestors, with the loincloths wrapped around our hips, we surrendered to the comfort of our surroundings rather than chatting all the way through our bath. As our tellaks sweated to carve a month’s dirt out of our skin with Molton Brown soaps and brand new scrubbing pads, we lied on the warm marble stones covered with cotton towels like two potatoes being cooked to be mashed.
We would have never gotten up if it wasn’t for the cool water poured on our heads from the traditional brass Hamam bowls.
As Turks, it is a shame that we have retired such a strong and essential part of our culture. We have forgotten so much about it that it became an “exotic experience” on a menu at a few landmarks, hotel suites and spas around the country. As the population grew, wealth got divided into smaller pieces, the living spaces got smaller, life got faster with technology and we had to welcome the modern bathroom. The Hamam’s marble floors turned cold with the introduction of the modern shower, its space and use of natural light gave way to tiny bathtubs tucked inside a bathroom with no windows. The three interconnected rooms that gradually decreased temperature got smashed into one single room.
