Turkish Bath

Icmeler Turkish Bath Marmaris

turkish-bath (3)

Icmeler Turkish Bath Marmaris

People have some basic needs from the very first times they existed. Nutritional needs, cleaning needs, clothing needs and sheltering are some of them. If any of these needs are not met, people may face illness or death. Therefore, many attempts have been made to meet these needs throughout human history. These needs have also sparked some inventions. People built houses to accommodate, produced clothes of various products to dress, and sometimes struggled with nature at the expense of their lives. Baths are structures that are built to meet the cleaning needs of people. Baths can be handled in two periods as modern and primitive.

Primitive Baths and Modern Baths

People built some structures to meet the cleaning needs of more modern city states before they started to be established. These structures are generally surrounded by stones and are around 5-10 square meters. In these places, people meet the cleaning needs by boiling water with boiler. In the previous primitive periods, people generally met their cleaning needs in streams and streams.
The concept of modern bath is an innovation unearthed by the Roman Empire. The difference of modern baths from primitive baths; it is larger, more equipped and can be used for other needs than cleaning. The system of producing steam by pouring cold water on hot iron was used for the first time in these baths. In addition, modern Roman baths were used for entertainment purposes. From time to time, the nobility organized all-day entertainment in these baths.

The Emergence of the Turkish Bath

The concept of Turkish bath, on the other hand, emerged quite late compared to Roman baths. Even during the times when modern empires were established and the nomadic age was over, the Turks continued to live a nomadic life for a long time. The nomadism of the Turks has partially decreased with the Seljuk State; It ended almost with the Ottoman State.
Turks, who belonged to the religion of Islam, where cleanliness was of great importance, used some methods and complexes to meet their cleaning needs before the baths. However, their acquaintance with the concept of the bath took place after Fatih conquered Istanbul. The Turks, who faced the baths from Rome, started to build new baths in accordance with the Turkish-Islamic architecture. After this period, baths had a special place in Turkish architecture. It has also been one of the indispensable structures in the development of cities.

Turkish Baths in Terms of Health Tourism

Health tourism means that people go from one place to another to treat their illnesses or to benefit from the elements that will help them in their treatment. Every year, millions of people travel around the world for this purpose. Health tourism is the tourism activity that has the most human potential after touristic tourism. Natural muds, spas and local treatment methods are some of the elements of health tourism. Baths are also places that attract a high number of tourists in terms of health tourism. Our country, which is especially rich in baths built on healing water resources, is visited by thousands of people every year. Icmeler Turkish Bath Marmaris baths are one of them.

Baths as a Space for Socialization

In addition to cleaning, the purpose of social use has been realized both in Rome, where modern baths have emerged, and in Turkish baths since the Ottoman times. There are some social bath activities, which were performed more widely in the Ottoman era and continued by people for nostalgia today. The most important of these is the amusement with bathed cheng baths. On certain days of the week, especially women used to go to the bathhouse with the food they prepared at home and have fun here throughout the day. These entertainments were considered as one of the basic building blocks of social cohesion and solidarity. In fact, some neighborhoods had public bath days known to everyone. Not only women who knew each other, but also foreign women in the bathhouse were invited to these entertainments.

Types of Baths

Even though it is a uniform structure with a hot dome and people’s minds when it comes to baths, the baths are considered under two titles according to their characteristics. According to this distinction, the bath types are:
• Natural Hot Water Baths: These baths are the baths visited in terms of health tourism. No method is used to heat the interior of the bath and the water used. In this bathhouse, a bathhouse was built on the hot spring waters coming from the ground. These waters are often used as an aid in the treatment of diseases. İçmeler Turkish Bath Marmaris is an example of this bath type.
• Artificial Baths: In this bath type, which is seen in most of the old neighborhoods in Anatolia, large wood boilers are used to heat the bath and the water to be used. The water heated in the boiler provides heating by circulating the entire bath through the pipes. At the same time, this water is supplied to the taps and the need for hot water is met.

Things to consider before entering the bath

Turkish bath is a very useful place in terms of meeting needs such as cleaning, socializing and health. However, in some cases, entering the bath can be dangerous. It is necessary to know these situations and to go to the bath consciously in order to obtain the expected benefit more easily. Firstly, it is recommended that people with heart disease not go to the bathhouse. If it is not necessarily going, there are warnings about not staying more than half an hour. Because the high heat and steam of the bath can cause the diseases of the heart patients to be triggered.
It is also the case for people with high and low blood pressure. The bath has a great effect on the blood pressure of people who will enter the first time. It is inconvenient to enter the bathhouse with a full stomach and to enter it completely hungry. The ideal is to go to the bathhouse a few hours after eating. In addition, metallic accessories such as gold and silver must be removed before entering the bathhouse. Because the effects of heat dissolve, these metals can leak through the opened skin pores and cause discomfort.

Benefits of Turkish Bath

The benefits of baths are not so small as to count, in fact. However, certain benefits make baths preferred by people. İçmeler Turkish Bath Marmaris baths also include these benefits. Baths primarily help open the pores of the skin and remove the toxins accumulated in the skin, thereby rapid regeneration of the skin and skin cells. It also helps slow the blood flow and regulate metabolism. It also allows the strained muscles to be relieved and muscle pain to rest.

Anatolian Baths Today

It is possible to say that the culture of the bath has not disappeared, but that it continues with strength, and that new baths have been built in addition to the existing historical baths. Today, Turkey is the newly built baths on all four sides and is also made in the restoration of existing historical hamam. Although there is not as much influence as the area of ​​socialization, baths frequently visit baths for different reasons. In some regions, women gather once a week in order to keep an old tradition alive and go to the Turkish bath to organize entertainment. On the other hand, men often visit baths when they exhaust their muscles by doing heavy work or when they have a cold. It can be said that the bath culture will continue its existence from now on.