HASEKI HÜRREM SULTAN HAMAM

Description

Essentials about the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam in brief

The Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamami is probably the most famous bathhouse in Istanbul. The hamam has an extremely prominent location directly between the two most famous houses of worship in the city, the Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmed Mosque. If you want to relax a little in a Turkish bath before or after visiting the famous sights in the center of Istanbul, you should definitely pay a visit to the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam.

The history of the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam

The bathhouse was built by Hürrem, the wife (Haseki Sultan) of Sultan Suleyman I, in 1556. The building was designed by the Ottoman master architect Sinan. The building was erected over the Byzantine Zeuxippos Baths, which had stood on this site until at least 1536. The ground plan of the building, which is free-standing today, is determined by the crowded conditions of space at the time of its construction. In 1910 the hamam was temporarily closed down and in the following years it was used as a paper and gasoline store and a carpet gallery. From 2008, however, the building was faithfully restored and is now open again as a bathhouse.

The architecture of the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam

The Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam is considered an innovation in the architecture of Turkish bathhouses. It is the first and only hamam where the women’s area is on the same axis as the men’s area. The 75-meter long building is built in the style of a classical Ottoman bathhouse and has two sections for women and men arranged symmetrically along the longitudinal axis from northeast to southwest. The men’s bath is located in the north and the women’s bath in the south. The building has two separate entrances, the entrance for men is in the north (opposite the large apse of the Hagia Sophia), and the one for women is in the west.

Each section consists of three interconnected rooms, the changing room, a cool room (frigidarium) and a hot room (caldarium). The hot rooms of both sections are right next to each other, while the changing rooms are located at opposite ends of the structure.

Visiting the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam

Many visitors rave about the authentic experience of Ottoman bathing and body care culture at Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam. In addition to the traditional bath, there are various offers of massages, aromatherapies, peelings as well as masks. So if you want to pamper yourself before or after visiting the many sights in the center of Istanbul, you should definitely pay a visit to the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamam.