Bey Hamam, alternatively known as the "Baths of Paradise", is a

Turkish bath A hammam (), also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model ...

house located along Egnatia Street in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

, east of

Panagia Chalkeon The Church of Panagia Chalkeon () is an 11th-century Byzantine church in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. The church's well-preserved Byzantine architecture and testimony to the importance of Thessaloniki in early and medieval Christianit ...

History

Built in 1444 by sultan

Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...

, it was the first Ottoman bath in Thessaloniki and the most important one still standing throughout

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. For this reason, it is a part of those few important vestiges of

Ottoman culture The culture of the Ottoman Empire evolved over several centuries as the ruling administration of the Turkish peoples, Turks absorbed, adapted and modified the various native cultures of conquered lands and their peoples. There was influence from t ...

remaining in Thessaloniki and Greece in general. It is a double bath, with two separate parts for men and women. The male quarters are the most spacious and luxurious, but each one follows the same tripartite plan - a succession of three parts, the cold, tepid, and hot rooms. A large rectangular

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

flanks the baths to the east and guarantees their water supply. The baths for the men include a large octagonal cold room, with a gallery resting on columns, arcades surrounding their windows, and a painted cupola. It is followed, in south-east, by the tepid room, also octagonal, equipped with a cupola with occuli and with a rich series of painted depictions of plants. Further to the east lies the complex of hot rooms, ordered around a large cruciform room, wherein the massage table might always be found, standing, now as ever, in its centre. Eight small hot and tepid rooms open on this space and are equipped with basins and marble benches. The baths remained in usage, under the name "Baths of Paradise", up until 1968, where they were leased to the Greek archaeological service for four years. After the

1978 Thessaloniki earthquake The 1978 Thessaloniki earthquake () occurred on 20 June at , registering 6.5 on the moment magnitude scale with severe intensity. The earthquake affected Thessaloniki and surrounding villages, causing extensive damage, killing 45 people (includ ...

, which shook Thessaloniki especially hard, the baths were restored, and are used to this day for cultural events and short-lived exhibitions. Meanwhile, the eastern annex became the principal shop of the Foundation of Archaeological Receipts of the

Hellenic Republic Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage and promoting the arts. The incumbent minister is Lina Mendoni, and the deputy minister is . History This ministry ...

Gallery

Image:THES-Bey Hamam entrance.jpg, Entrance to the male quarter of the baths Image:THES-Bey Hamam cool chamber.jpg, Cold room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam tepid chamber 1.jpg, Tepid room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam tepid chamber 2.jpg, Cupola with occuli in the tepid room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam tepid chamber 3.jpg, Cupola with occuli in the tepid room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 1.jpg, Hot room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 2.jpg, Hot room of the male quarter Image:THES-Bey Hamam hot chamber 3.jpg, Hot room of the male quarter

References

* {{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1444 Ottoman architecture in Thessaloniki Ottoman baths in Greece 15th-century architecture in Greece