Turkish Bath

Turkish Bath & Turkish Restaurant

No vacation in Turkey is complete without a visit to the Turkish Bath. Most public baths segregate the sexes, though nowadays there are many Turkish Baths, especially in the larger hotels, where mixed sessions are normal. The soap massage that follows is pure melting pleasure, leaving your skin refreshed, tingling and your whole body rejuvenated. A warm dry towel, a place to relax and a taste of Turkish delight ends the session, unless of course you want to go the whole way and take a sauna or Turkish massage. Departure from hotel to the Antalya. Visit the traditional Turkish Bath. This Baths were built first in 13.Century by Ottoman Sultans all around the Ottoman Empire and so far called Turkish Bath. They were used by the Sultan, his family and public. You can have a great soap massage by Turkish Tellak and peeling (Kese). One of the best way to relax and bathing in a historical atmosphere is visiting a local Turkish Bath. You will be offered a warm Turkish tea or coffee while you resting. Dinner at Turkish Restaurant after Turkish Bath. Enjoy one of the best cuisine of the world. Tour includes  : Transfers, Entrance Fee to the Bath, Professional Guiding Services. Tour excludes : All drinks, oil massage and tips.  A View of Turkish Bath The "pestemal" (pesh-te-mahl), a large towel fringed at both ends and wrapped around the torso, from below the armpits to about mid-thigh , as the woman made her way to the "kurna" or marble basin. The pestemal would be striped or checked, a colored mixture of silk and cotton, or pure cotton, or even pure silk. A pair of wooden clogs or pattens, in Turkish "nalin", of which there were many varied types. Carved exquisitely, these pattens kept the wearer's feet clear of the wet floor. They would be embellished in a number of ways, most often with mother-of-pearl, or even sheathed in tooled silver. They might have jingles, or a woven straw sheath, or be appliqued with felt or brass. The "tas", or bowl for pouring water over the body, was always of metal. Weather silver, gilt or tinned copper, or of brass, the tas always had grooved and inlaid ornamentation. One finds a soap case of metal, usually copper, with a handle on top like a handbag, and perforated at the bottom to allow water to run out. Not only soap goes into such a case, but also a coarse mitt for scouring down the skin, a webbing of date-palm or other fibers for lathering on the soap, and combs both fine and broad-toothed made of horn or ivory. The "kese" (keh-seh), that rough cloth mitt carried in the soap case, not only scoured the dirt out of the pores, but served to deliver a bracing massage. The soaping web, on the other hand, was specially woven out of hair or plant fibers. A small jewelry box is often included, and depending on the region will be of silver, copper or wood, sometimes covered with wicker, felt, velvet or silver. As she undresses in the hamam, the woman will remove her jewelry and place it in this box. There are three towels for drying, one to go around the hair like a turban, one around the shoulders, and one around the waist. The hamam carpet would be laid on the floor, then another cloth spread over it. Indeed, the name of the latter, "yaygi", contains the Turkish root for Quotspread. The woman would sit on the mat so formed to undress, and it was here that the bundle itself would be placed. After each trip to the hamam the spread would be washed and dried, then folded away in the bundle until the next time. An inner bundle cloth was made of cambric, which can be repeatedly washed. The outer bundle on the other hand, heavily embroidered, might be velvet, woolen or silken weave. In any case, it is always showy, suitable for the uses to which it is put on feast days and other special occasions. The mirror was an indispensable item in the bundle, its frame and handle often of wood, but sometimes of silver or brass. There might be a bowl for henna, which the woman would fill on arriving at the hamam. Aside from the color it lends, henna is considered to strenghten the hair A very small container, made of tinned copper, was used to mash up an eyebrow darkener known as "rastik", especially popular with those of fair and auburn hair. There is another box, this one for "surme", for the lids. Attar of rose in a bottle, the bottle in turn kept in a wooden case, and inevitably found in the hamam bundle: No other perfume was considered proper for the newly washed body.