Turkish Hamam - what is it?
Such a sauna( hamam) is very democratic. This bath "treats" all Muslims, regardless of class and consistency. And this is one of the precepts of the Prophet and is regarded as a sacred duty of all the faithful. The virtues of this method of washing and caring for the body are so high that among the admirers of it all over the world a great multitude of non-Muslims. So, among the historical celebrities a great admirer of Turkish baths was the famous Casanova, who often enjoyed them in Budapest.
The great advantage of the eastern bath is the very method of its device, allowing people to sweat, which is hard enough to tolerate high temperatures. The term "hamam", as the Turkish bath is called, comes from the word "hot", in its construction the main is a cauldron( often not one) with heated water.
Steam by special channels heats the floor, walls, deck chairs and other elements of the premises, is fed inside the steam rooms. Their interior is traditionally characterized by beauty and luxury. This is a real temple of purity, because even the roof of the building is made in the form of a dome for better condensation of steam.
Sauna( hamam) - rules for using
Turkish sauna( hamam) is arranged like a five-fingered human hand, with its fingers are special bath niches. Everything starts with a dressing room - a waiting room, with an average capacity of thirty people, although the capacity can be several times larger. Here the temperature is about thirty-five degrees, especially for warming up before visiting more hot bath rooms.
I have to say, the hamam( Turkish steam room) has its own rules. And one of them says that it is not accepted to wash completely naked here. For the hips there is a special towel made of dense and soft natural fabric( made of hydrochloric or bamboo), the body is wrapped in a bath sheet also made from natural fibers( cotton or silk).Special mittens for massage rubbing are traditionally made of horsehair and flax.
The name of the Turkish bath for many, at least once visited it, firmly associated with real pleasure from the ritual of washing itself. And he here is in detail structured and rather specific. The warmth of the floors, which are pleasant to walk, and special sunbeds( often made of marble) helps to relax and warm up before visiting the twin niches. In all there are five, and the temperature in each of the next raises( from seventy to one hundred degrees).
Turkish sauna( hamam) - relaxing procedures
Especially it is necessary to mention massage, which is famous for a Turkish bath, video of a similar procedure for the uninitiated may seem a kind of torture or mockery. In fact, such muscle stretching procedures are extremely useful, conducted by specialists after a thorough warm-up and the beginning of profuse sweating at the client.
This intensive kneading frees the body of fatigue, raises the mood, and just very nice.
Of course, after the massage, it's the washing line. And then the hamam has his own peculiarities, at home( usually) the entire body is immediately soaped, and then the foam is washed off, but it is correct to wash first with a hard glove slightly moistened with soapy water. This helps to remove the upper keratinized skin.
After a special soap bubble with a diluted liquid soap, the entire body is washed out. This removes the last remnants of dirt and keratinized skin. After that, the program pools with cold, warm and hot water. A true pleasure and rest.
Like the rest of the world, the Turkish bath has its advantages and disadvantages. However, its benefits are obvious, and many of our compatriots are building a hamam at the dacha, regardless of the difficulties of technical implementation. By the way, the architect, who built almost five hundred years ago the famous Istanbul "Baths with tiles" lived for a hundred and ten years due to the fact that( as he himself said) he never forgot about the bathhouse.
