Turkey Guide
İstanbul
Çinili Hamamı
Address: İtfaiye Caddesi
Opening time: Daily 8.30am–8pm
Price: 12YTL, 15YTL with massage
The Çinili Hamamı or "tiled baths", on İtfaiye Caddesi, provide a welcome respite from sightseeing. This double hamam, which was built for the great sixteenth-century pirate-admiral Barbarossa, has been beautifully restored to working order and has a particularly friendly atmosphere. Notice the huge dome and the marble floors and fountain of the camekan (changing room), the enormous, octagonal, marble massage-table in the main room of the hararet (steam room) and the toilets, which are continually flushed by water draining from the hararet. There are still a few of the original tiles on the walls in the men's section, but none are evident through the continual clouds of steam in the women's baths. The blissful bath experience can be nicely rounded off in the Gül Lokantası, behind the basketball court on the other side of Atfaiye Caddesi. This little basement kebab-joint has a discreet but friendly atmosphere peculiar to establishments in areas slightly off the tourist agenda and as such is a rarity in İstanbul.