Istanbul, Turkey – The Zeyrek neighbourhood of Istanbul is quintessentially residential; men play backgammon on makeshift tables and discarded vegetable crates line the streets. Seemingly identical grocers, butchers and spice shops alternate between one another, each drawing a handful of customers at any given time.
Turning into Itfaiye Street, I catch sight of a series of silver domes lining the horizon. Below them, at the Zeyrek Cinili hammam, there is a small commotion.
Gaggles of friends and lone tourists mill around an arched stone entrance. Some of them sport slicked-back hair. Others clutch enormous bags with towels and exfoliator scrubs poking out.
The hub of activity surrounding the newly restored 16th-century bathhouse points towards a wider cultural renaissance occurring in the city: the revival of the historic hammam ritual.
Hammams, where the communal bathing tradition of being cleansed and scrubbed by an attendant takes place, were once central in Ottoman society. Originally government-run establishments, these bathhouses fell out of fashion in Istanbul during the 19th and 20th centuries. The hammams in the city have since been abolished or acquired by private entities.
Over the last decade, the bathing ritual has started to gain popularity again, with a series of hammam restorations catering to the demand.
Zeyrek Cinili is by far the most impressive. The project took almost 13 years to complete and included excavation of Byzantine cisterns below the grounds and the construction of a museum focused on hammam culture.
Other notable hammams have undergone restoration too. The 16th-century Kilic Ali Pasa hammam reopened in 2012 after a seven-year-long renovation and the 19th-century Cukurcuma hammam started welcoming guests again in 2018 after closing for renovations in 2007.
Luxury hotels have also started to incorporate the historic hammam ritual in their offering since the turn of the century. The Four Seasons Sultanahmet, Shangri-La Bosphorus and Six Senses Kocatas Mansions all boast their own glittering marble bathhouses.
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