One by one, old hamams are being transformed into cafes

Thus, the very concept of the hamam, so intimately linked with the sound of splashing water, the clean smell of soap and friendly chatter among patrons, remains only in name and memory at many of these establishments. And for so many of the people who spent their childhoods going back and forth to the hamam with a parent, all that is left of this bit of culture is the memories.

Hamams used to be places to get clean, places where you would scrub yourself and be scrubbed by others under domes with steam rising upwards and where water from natural springs would flow and bubble from spouts and spigots. Hamams were the places where men would relax and women would chat and where future mothers-in-law would scout out potential daughters-in-law. This went on for hundreds of years. But then, times changed, and with them, people's habits. The effects of changing times were felt deeply in the hamams of Turkey. These structures, bearing their Selçuk, Ottoman and Turkish Islamic motifs, fell victim one by one to imbalanced city growth, insensitivity to the needs of historical structures and human clumsiness in general. Some hamams were completely destroyed; others turned into storage depots.

But historic structural legacies don't always have to fall into bad hands! Some of the abandoned and damaged hamams throughout Turkey have recently been targets of restoration efforts, fixed up to serve people again, though sometimes in different capacities than before. The hamams that have been turned into cafes maintain the echoes of a past filled with soap and water, but now, under the domes, with light filtering through tiny glassed-over holes in the shapes of tulips and crescent moons, people sip their Turkish coffee, smoke nargile and eat delicious food. And in truth, there really is a natural coolness lent to the heat of summer afternoons by these domed hamams. You can now enjoy cafe pleasure in the shadows of these domes in İstanbul, Bursa, Gaziantep, Erzurum, etc.

İstanbul Kahvehanesi, in the center of the Tahtakale Hamam

İstanbul's largest and oldest hamam is the famous Tahtakale Hamam. But these days, this building is no longer a hamam: One part of it is used as an inn, and directly in the center of this structure is İstanbul Kahvehanesi, a wonderful cafe. For many years now, the Tahtakale Hamam has not been used for its original purpose. During the 1980s, it was a cold depot helping İstanbul meet all its ice needs. In 1988, the Azmi Sebat Group bought the building. The restoration of the Tahtakale Hamam was overseen by Professor Doğan Kubat and took five years. A full 700 truckloads of rubble were carried out of the historic hamam during the restoration process, which helps shed some light on just why the project took so long. After the restoration was finished, part of the hamam was rented out for storefronts. But of course, the real face of the Tahtakale Hamam is now İstanbul Kahvehanesi.

 Ascending the hill to the Tahtakale Hamam from the Mısır Carşısı (Spice Bazaar) in Eminönü, the sheer grandeur of this historic hamam always manages to surprise people into asking, “How did they fit this enormous structure here?” Just setting foot into this hamam is enough to dispel the summer heat. There are shops to your right and left, and directly before you, the historic İstanbul Kahvehanesi. Wouldn't you like to sip some delicious Turkish coffee and chat over the sounds of Turkish art music? There are embellished low tables and sofas here. The walls are decorated with images of Ottoman sultans and even of Safiye Sultan. We sit in a corner, looking up at the dome, the pool in the center and the images of leaders from long ago. There is no air conditioner here, but still, it is so cool in this old building. The Turkish coffee we ordered arrives, and we chat for a while with our waiter, Başak Özdemir. He tells us that the cafe is run by Ahmet Cizrelioğlu of Konya. He explains that Cizrelioğlu was living with his brother Mithat in London when they saw a photograph of the Tahtakale Hamam on the Internet and decided to open up the cafe to take advantage of the historic site six years ago. Many of the people who visit this cafe now are tourists, here to take in the atmosphere as well as the coffee and sandwiches for which the locale is famous.

Gaziantep Cafe Şehzade

Another old hamam now hosting a new cafe is the Keyvanbey Hamam in Gaziantep's Şahinbey district. This hamam was build by Selçuk Turks in 1161 and remained in service as a hamam until just 30 years ago. After it closed its doors as a hamam, the Keyvanbey Hamam turned into a furniture gallery, before sitting empty for awhile, after which it served as a depot. Around this time, Mehmet Ciğerli, who owned a kebab restaurant in İstanbul, decided to return to his native city of Gaziantep. He realized that this historic hamam would be the perfect place for investment and immediately moved to rent it. He restored the hamam in keeping with its historic nature. Throughout the restoration efforts, Ciğerli heard many warnings from local merchants, who told him his efforts would be for naught and that all his money would be wasted. In the end though, Ciğerli's vision was right on the mark, and in 2000, his Cafe Şehzade opened up, in the style of an old Ottoman palace, suiting the feel of the interior of this historic structure. Thus a new spot for people to escape the searing heat of Gaziantep summers was created in this spot that served as a hamam for so long.

Amasra Hamam Cafe

Another historic hamam that has been transformed into a cafe is in Amasra, where the Sağır Osman Hamam, a seaside hamam that sat inactive for 20 years, was rented in 2000 by Aysel Uyan, who turned the spot into a cafe. Uyan described the hamam's state before it was transformed: “It was damp and dingy. And we tried to bring it back up on its feet without ruining its original form.” Uyan ascribes some of the tremendous popularity of her new cafe to the fact that she makes everything served here by hand. Her lokma dessert in particular is locally quite famous. “There is no parallel to it in Turkey!” says Uyan.

Bursa’s Ördekli Hamamı

Bursa's historical Ördekli Hamamı was neglected for around 100 years before the Bursa's Osmangazi Municipality decided to rescue it. The municipality took out a 20-year lease on the hamam from the Regional Directorate of Foundations and set to work restoring the place. Little by little this hamam, whose roots go back to 1400, was rescued from its decline as the "broken down hamam" and transformed into a cultural center for the city. Now you can find exhibition and meeting rooms in this historical site and even an auditorium-style room for theatrical events. Occasionally there are exhibitions of calligraphy and handicrafts on display in the corridors here, and as a result, this spot has truly become an important cultural site for city residents.

New hamam cafes on the way

There is a series of historic hamams throughout Turkey that will serve as cafes after restoration projects are completed. One of these is the Süleymanpaşa Hamam in Kocaeli. This historic hamam was built during the Orhan Gazi period, but will soon be serving up Turkish coffee and tea to Kocaeli residents and visitors. Other hamams headed for cafe status are the Bey Hamam in Isparta and the two Ottoman-era hamams in Ordu's Eskipazar village.