Turkish bath may be a traditional public bath almost like Roman baths. Istanbul could be a good place to do hamam for the primary time. Antalya and other holiday resorts also are suitable for foreigners.
There are said to be about 100 old Ottoman baths, called hammam in Istanbul, of which about 80 are still in use. There's little doubt that their popularity will continue, because the fuel shortage makes a weekly visit to the hammam a pretty proposition. The degree of all-over cleanliness it produces is far beyond what most people ever achieve through our daily baths and showers. As a British clergyman wrote within the 1930s during his stay here: They hold impurity of the body in greater detestation than impurity of the mind, ablution being so essential that without it prayer are going to be of no value within the eyes of God.
Your bathing options would be either self-service or traditional. You bathe yourself together with your shampoo, towel and soap if you favor self-service. The standard style would offer real Turkish bath experience including massage but may cost more.
Ottoman marriage contracts stipulated that a husband had to allow his wife bath-money. If he did not do so, it had been grounds for divorce.
Mixed bathing isn't permitted except in a number of the larger hotels, and also the penalty for a person entering the women's hammam accustomed be death. The women's baths are delightfully relaxing places, with fat homely masseuses in black briefs with colossal swinging bosoms, often smoking cigarettes in between customers. Nakedness is that the norm among foreigners during a women's hammam. Since you're probably only visiting have it off once, have everything on offer - the rub with the rough glove to shed years of grime from your front and particularly your back, the soaping, the face massage and even the foot massage. Even with all the extras, the full experience continues to be remarkably good value. Everyone features a locker for his or her valuables. The men's baths, in contrast, sound lots less fun, with towels wrapped firmly round waists.
The baths recommended for foreigners are the cagaloglu (Yerebatan Caddesi), the (cemberlitas (Vezirhan Caddesi 8) in Sultanahmet, and also the Galatasaray in Turnacibasi Caddesi, Beyoglu. A number of the large five-star hotels even have small Turkish baths, but they lack the authentic atmosphere. Other local hamams don't seem to be superb for Tourists and visitors.
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