Turkish Baths: Visiting An Ancient Hamam In Ankara

摘要

Between the 11th and 15 th centuries, when the Roman public baths in Byzantine cities and the Arabic-Islamic baths in Syria and Egypt were discovered by the Ottomans-Turkish conquerors of Asia Minor both public-bath architecture and customs changed and the Turkish bath, or hamam was created. Although hamams still resembled their historical roots, they also differed. For one thing, the Turkish baths held religious significance-they were used to comply with Islamic laws of hygiene and purification, as many private homes had no bathing areas. Plus, Turkish hamams became the social centers for both men and women.rnHamams are heated in two ways. Most have a hypocaust system, like the Roman baths, with heat from wood fires rising through hollow walls and passing beneath raised floors. The others are heated with geothermal water from hot springs, and people gather and bathe around the naturally warmed pools (see drawing). Hot spring hamams are called kaplicas and the City of Bursa has some of the oldest kaplicas in the Middle East.