Cağaloğlu Hamamı

About Cağaloğlu Hamamı

Turkish bath

The Cagaloglu Hamam is a historic Turkish bath in the Cagaloglu quarter of Sultanahmet, in the heart of Istanbul's historic centre a few steps from Hagia Sophia. Completed in 1741 in the reign of Sultan Mahmud I, it was the last of the great Ottoman hamams built in the city. It was founded as a charitable endowment to raise revenue for Mahmud I's library inside the Hagia Sophia mosque, begun by the chief architect Suleyman Aga and completed by Abdullah Aga, on the site of the palace of Ibrahim Pasha of Nevsehir, which had burned down in 1740. It is a double hamam with entirely separate sections for men and women, following the long-established layout of Ottoman baths from the great reception hall (camekan) through the warm room to the hot room with its star-pierced dome and central marble massage slab, while its details and decoration reflect the Ottoman Baroque style of the eighteenth century, with ornate columns and arches. Many famous visitors have bathed here over the centuries, from Florence Nightingale and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk to Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Edward VIII and international artists and actors, and it still offers the traditional hamam services of scrubbing and soap massage, though its clientele today is almost entirely tourists.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye