Turkish Bath

I had heard from a number of people that the experience not to miss in Istanbul is a scrub and massage at one of the many Turkish baths in the city. Mr. Moore in particular said that it was an unforgettable experience when he visited Istanbul after a long stay in Greece.

At the end of a long day of traveling and walking around the city, I wandered over to what is most likely the most famous of Turkish baths, the Çemberlitaş Turkish Bath.

As I was walking towards the entrance I saw a tourist woman coming in the other direction who looked like her face had been scrubbed much too hard. Her eyes were entirely bloodshot. She looked like she had been beaten up.

What makes these baths so famous is their age and the architect. None other than the greatest Ottoman architect Sinan designed the Çemberlitaş Turkish Baths in the 1580s. They have been in use ever since.

The idea of these public baths goes back to ancient Roman times and most likely much earlier than that. Since the Byzantines inherited so much of Roman culture when the capital of the Roman Empire moved to Constantinople, the baths did also.

The Turks refined the baths after they conquered Constantinople in 1453. Most often they constructed baths along with mosques and other buildings. The income from the baths went to support charity work for the mosque.

When I had paid my fee for "full treatment," I wondered whether I would get the same pounding as the woman I saw coming out just a few moments before. The first thing, however, was that woman and men were separated, so alas I still have no idea about the tortures of the women's side. But I did ask a man walking away from his massage about how it went. His reply I cannot print in this family-oriented blog, but let's just say that he too felt pretty beaten up.

[Important note: I did not take this picture.  Cameras are not allowed in the Hamam.  I got this image from an image search online.  The picture does it justice.  It didn't look this good to me when I was there because I didn't have my glasses.]
I wrapped myself in a large towel and entered the "hot room" of the Hamam. Here a marvelously huge slab of marble is in the center of a lovely room with arched nooks and doorways. An artful dome is the focal point. Sinan punctured the top of the dome with geometrically shaped holes so that light would filter through, creating ever-changing designs on the walls and archways. It is a structure perfectly suited for its purpose.


Unfortunately for me I did not have my glasses, and my eyesight without them is too compromised to really pick up the whole elegance of the place. The Çemberlitaş Turkish Bath is a great argument for lasik surgery.

The scrub down that I receive was intense, but not at all painful. The large burly man who did the job gave quick orders--"turn," "sit," "here." Do you know that icky body sensation that comes from long airplane rides? This guy in ten minutes completely got rid of it for me. A great deal of soap was involved, as was water. I did get some soap in my eyes, which might explain the bloodshot eyes of the woman I saw.

But I was only halfway done. I had requested the "full treatment," which includes an oil back massage. I have had a number of deep-tissue massages to work out stiffness in my back. The massage in the Cemberlitas place did not rank high in my most intense back massages. It was pleasant, even relaxing. Well worth it.

So why was my massage more a more pleasant experience? Perhaps I received the lightweight version. Another idea was suggested by my friend Recep, Oliver Cok's father. He says that the most intense massages are in the morning before then men get tired.