Hammam Hürrem Sultan (Hürrem Sultan Hamamı) - historical Turkish baths built in the 16th century for the beloved and legendary wife of Suleiman the Magnificent - Roksolana, which anyone can visit today.
The hammam is also known as the Roksolana Hammam, the Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Hammam, the Hagia Sophia Hurrem Sultan Hammam (Ayasofya Hürrem Sultan Hamamı), the Hagia Sophia Haseki Hammam, the Hagia Sophia Haseki Hammam (Ayasofya Haseki Hamamı) and the Haseki Hurrem Sultan Hammam (Haseki Hürrem Sultan Hamamı).
The hamam was built by the chief architect of the Ottoman Empire, Mimar Sinan, between 1556 and 1557 by order of Hurrem Sultan, the wife of Sultan Suleiman I. Once on this site there were popular public baths (thermes) of Zeuxippou (Thermes tou Zeuxippou).
The 75-meter-long (246-foot-long) hammam was designed in the style of classical Ottoman baths and had an architectural design that was new for hammams at that time - with two symmetrical separate sections for men and women located on the same axis in the north-south direction: the men's section was in the north, and the women's section was in the south.
The entrances to both sections are separated: the entrance to the men's section is in the north, and the women's section is in the west. Unlike the architecture of other Turkish baths, in the center of the facade of the men's part there is a stoa with a dome (a covered walkway or portico intended for public use). The roofs of the dome and the stoa are finished with brick and covered with lead sheet material. A red and white palmette with a golden epigraph on a green background adorns the pointed arch of the monumental entrance door.
Each section consists of three main interconnected rooms: a changing room (soyunmalık), an intermediate cool room (soğukluk, frigidarium) and a hot room (sıcaklık, caldarium). The hot rooms of the two sections are adjacent, and the changing rooms are located at both ends of the axis. The rooms are arranged in the following order: locker room, cool and hot room of the men's department, followed by hot room, cool room and locker room of the women's department.
The outer walls are built in rows of hewn stone and bricks. The men's locker room has four lancet stained glass windows at the top of the facade, and the women's locker room has three windows.
The hammam was used for its intended purpose until 1910. After many years it remained closed, and from time to time it was used as a prison, paper and gas warehouses.
The historic hammam was renovated in the period from 1957 to 1958, in 2008 it was used as a carpet store.
Today it is again a hammam with massage services and various packages of services that anyone can visit. There is also a cafe-restaurant with tables in the open air.
Practical information
The Hurrem Sultan Hammam is located in the historical heart of Istanbul, in Sultanahmet district (Sultanahmet), between Hagia Sophia Mosque and Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Mosque, Sultanahmet Camii), at: Cankurtaran Mahallesi, Ayasofya Meydanı No:2 Sultanahmet Fatih / Istanbul.
Khurrem Sultan Hammam website: hurremsultanhamami.
You can get to the Khurrem Sultan Hammam on foot from the ferry piers near Galata Bridge; from the tram stop T1 "Sultanahmet"; from the metro station Vezneciler (green line M2) on foot about 1.8 kilometers. You can also get there by taxi, rented car, or by taking a tour on the Istanbul Hop-On Hop-Off tour bus (there are tickets for 1, 2 or 3 days).
Tickets for the Istanbul sightseeing bus can be purchased here →
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