Sunday, February 24, 2013

Turks and their Hammams - a couple stories of how they use them

Recently, I enjoyed my first Istanbul hammam at Çirağan Palace Kempinski, the famous Ottoman Imperial Palace hotel on the Bosphorus, which I described in the following two blog posts: part one and part two.
The aesthetic beauty of a hammam space
 is part of the attraction.
Zeynep, the Sanitas spa manager at Çirağan Palace Kempinski, credited the Romans with the development of public baths; she said the Ottomans simply absorbed and carried on this tradition. If so, the Ottomans perfected it, because the experience is worthy of becoming globally famous. Since the advent of water in every home though, hammam culture is threatened as Turks no longer need to use it as their bath. Instead, they treat it as a quarterly or semi-annual treat.

It's interesting to me how differently some Westerners view a hammam than most native Turks. A Westerner tends to appreciate the skin exfoliation AND the extended massage that happens afterwards. The last thing I want to do in a hammam is talk to anybody. To me the whole point is to zone out in solitary bliss.
Tools of the hammam: soap, peştamal,
kese (the scrubbing mitt),
and a  tas (water basin for rinsing).
According to Zeynep, local customers don't see it that way though. Turkish customers view the skin scrubbing as the point of the hammam and all of the extra massage features as superfluous. Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel's spa offers a 40 minute skin scrubbing as an entry service, because for many Turks maintaining healthy, glowing skin is what they want and expect from their hammam. It is the tourists who sign up for the 55 minute and 80 minute experiences that include massage.
The Turkish bathing tradition includes running water,
not the Western tradition of sitting in still water
contained in a bathtub.
In Ottoman times, women would gather in the hammam as one of the few places out of the home where they could spend time together. They could be there all day, eating, enjoying their friends, socializing and gossiping. Mothers of sons, would often suggest a potential bride for their sons based on their observations in the hammam. That sounds a bit creepy, but mostly these mothers were checking to make sure a potential bride was a healthy woman.
A traditional hammam bowl
for pouring water over a bather
Zeynep remembered going to the hammam with her grandmother and socializing with family and friends. They would bring in food and enjoy an extended period of relaxing after the heat and water and conversation. She also described a wonderful tradition where the bride is taken to the hammam with her female family and friends to prepare for her wedding. Her hammam is completed with a henna party where beautiful designs are drawn on her hand in henna ink for her wedding day.

One of my teenage Turkish friends described the perfection of his weeklong hammam experience with friends at basketball camp. He said "everyday at basketball camp we would play two basketball games. At night our team would go to the hammam and relax. One friend brought his guitar and he would play it as we all sat around, and relaxed and discussed how we did that day in the games. We'd bring in food and eat there. Imagine one whole week of getting to do what you love all day [play basketball], going to the hammam at night to hang out with your friends, and no parents to ask you to do this or do that. It was very, very nice."

Listening to him, I really appreciated the wholesomeness of the hammam experience. His North American teenage counterpart might be likely to go drinking at basketball camp once evening came. While I'll stick to hammam service my way, zoning out in solitary joy, I admired the wholesome way Turks used hammams to make the most of the moment, enjoy each other's company, using time together to do something physically healthy.
The heated marble slab in the center
is where a hammam visitor
is scrubbed and washed
It will take both the Turk and the Westerner to preserve hammam culture.  If you come to Turkey, and choose to experience a hammam yourself, you are truly giving back to your hosts by helping them preserve a beautiful intangible cultural heritage.

In case you missed them:

My first Hammam in Istanbul at the Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel, Part One

Part Two of My First Istanbul Hammam Adventure at Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel

Photos courtesy of Çirağan Palace Kempinski Hotel and Sanitas Spa

4 comments:

Senior Dogs Abroad said...

Karen, My experience in a hamam in Şanlıurfa was a bit of an eye-opener. This lovely city is certainly not Istanbul and so the hamam was used more by ordinary people who may not have a bathroom equipped with a shower. The women's side was full of chattering, running, naked children of both sexes and their mothers who wore their panties. The tumult was deafening. We just had a hot pipe to sit on to get our skin ready and the women generally scrubbed each other, though I paid maybe 20 TL to have someone else scrub me. This is in contrast to the men's side where the guys can find some peace and tranquility. It was there that I learned the Turkish phrase "As noisy as a women's hamam."

Karen said...

Yikes, you experienced the other side of the hammam range. Only one word for that: upgrade! :-)

chaplain.cz said...

Hi Karen,

Sorry for not visiting & commenting recently. I've just read your three hamman posts which have been highly educative for me. Thank you!

There is a Kempinski Hotel in Prague where I've been for a couple of different events but I don't know whether it has a hamman as the Ottomans never reached the city.

Karen said...

I tried to think of where the Kempinski hotel was in Prague, but I don't think I knew it, or I did not know about the company at the time. I'm glad you enjoyed the posts, Ricky.

 
Travel Sites Catalog All Traveling Sites Expat Women—Helping Women Living Overseas International Affairs Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory expat Czech Republic website counter blog abroadWho links to me? Greenty blog