A healing and history lesson at a modern bath house --- 

Most tourists and locals in Athens, Greece discover the Hammam Baths by chance – only a relatively small (but growing) number of people are aware of hamam, either in word or concept. It is not something that people search for, but it should be.

A hamam combines the functionality and structural elements of the Roman baths with the Central Asian Turkic tradition of steam bathing, ritual cleansing and respect of water. Hamam is also known as a Turkish bath, and naturally so –

‘hamam’ is a Turkish word. In Western Europe, the Turkish bath as a method of cleansing and relaxation became popular during the Victorian era but today is mostly a curiosity. In Athens, the last steam room stopped operation in 1965, but a trio of young entrepreneurs has restored and refined the tradition. Recently opened, Hammam Baths in central Athens is a beautiful and modern place for the traditional Hammam/Turkish bath, which is growing in awareness and popularity for both relaxation and healing.

Founder and co-owner Nayia Kourti runs the unique place of relaxation with her two partners. The trio are lovers of baths in the East, having experienced them in Turkey, Syria and Egypt. Realizing that Athens is one of the few European capitals without a steam room, they decided to create the first authentic hamam in their city.

Kourti welcomes tourists and locals to the bath facility – many locals are referred by their doctors to Hammam for a steam session, which has proven to aid in healing of the body and de-stressing of the mind.

Entering the very warm interior of Hammam Baths on a cold January day is refuge in itself from hectic city life. Calm, smiling faces welcome you and lead you to the changing rooms where you slip on your swimsuit, wrap yourself in a beautiful, patterned cotton towel (peştemal), and fit on a pair of Turkish wooden clogs (takunya).

After a glass of water, you enter the ‘hot room’, where the temperature is kept between 40-45 degrees Celsius with humidity around 80 percent. In the center of the circular-shaped room is a large, round marble table ringed by a marble bench and ancient-looking sinks and taps with hot and cold water.

 Sitting or lying on the beautiful marble, you quickly relax in the environment of heat, steam, low lighting, and the sound of cascading water. You pour cool water over your body to regulate for a while and then let your body heat and perspire again. After about twenty minutes in the hot room, you move to the bath and massage room where a staff member gives you a massage and an exfoliating body wash with aromatic soaps from Syria. Being bathed and vigorously massaged on a solid marble table is a unique and soothing experience that reinvigorates your relaxed body. Bathers finally retire to the cooling room to relax more while enjoying hot tea.

The physical and mental cleansing from the entire process is quite profound – it’s a feeling you strive to maintain as you leave this unique oasis. The people at Hammam Baths will tell you that in yesteryear Greece, hamam was regarded as the silent healer of everyday life. After a wonderful, renewing hour here, I can say that hamam is still a silent healer for everyday life. More information at http://hammam.gr/en