Galatasaray Hamam

Istiklal Avenue is one of the prettiest streets in the city of Istanbul. This is a pedestrianized shopping street lined with Ottoman era buildings. The buildings were very European though and wouldn’t look out of place in a city like Paris. There is a tram which runs the length of the street but I don’t know if I would ride it since it is nice just walking around here. Although it was still hot that day, there was a lot of shade here which made walking here much more pleasant. However, not everything interesting is along this street. There are smaller streets which branch out from Istiklal and while I saw restaurants and cafes set up here there would be most historical structures here too.

I happened to see a sign pointing to a historical structure. It it along a smaller street which I just followed and I eventually ran into this place called Galatasaray Hamam. A hamam is a Turkish bath. If you think that this would be similar to thermal baths used by the Romans then you are correct. The hamam is a place where people would come to clean themselves. This was used before there was plumbing that would go to individual houses. Naturally, this is also a place to socialize. Additionally, hamams can be used to perform ritual ablutions that are common in Islam. The Galatasaray Haman is one of the oldest hamams in Istanbul having been built in the year 1481, and it is still in use. It looks like an ordinary house but inside is a large space which is common to hamams. I wasn’t fast enough to take photos inside when before someone inside tried to get me to use the hamam. Unfortunately, it was too hot and I was in no mood for a hot steam bath in this weather. I was already sweating so much from the heat that I don’t need any additional heat to get rid of any toxins.

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