Turkish baths

[sailorptah]

Are there any films/documentaries/books with illustrations/etcetera with decent depictions of 16th-century Turkish baths? (And I do mean the kind in Turkey, not Victorian imitations/takeoffs.)

The exact era doesn't really matter, so long as it wouldn't be anachronistic to have adolescent male attendants offering sex massages

Comments

This isn't everyhitng you want

[kathleenbradean]

But it's a great visual account of a real Turkish bath and the treatments there. (Your dreams of cute boys will be instantly crushed when you see the massuse)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij8YuHIpOjw

Re: This isn't everyhitng you want

[sailorptah]

The procedure's the important thing anyway. Thank you!

Re: This isn't everyhitng you want

[ap_aelfwine]

(Your dreams of cute boys will be instantly crushed when you see the massuse)

Four or five hundred years is more than long enough for customs like that to change, even if the surroundings remain the same.

That said, a masseur is going to have to be a strong fellow, in order to deal with the physical strains of his job. But the belly is probably optional. ;-)

[orange_fell]

If it's images of the architecturture you need, I went to a taverna in Crete that was inside a former 17th-century Turkish bathhouse. You can find lots of pictures of it online, it's called Tamam and is in the city of Hania/Chania.

[basking_lizard]

aw, I missed Chania when we were in Crete a couple of years ago. We heard it was very nice but we ended up spending a couple of days in Heraklio instead and hiking down the Samaria gorge.

next time I will be sure to make time to go there. :)

[lee_777]

The hammam in the Michael Palin video kathleenbradean posted might have been architecturally unchanged for the last 4-600 years. There are also lots of hammam videos in the side-bar, I must check them out when I get home

[lee_777]

...current ERA.

[sailorptah]

Ooh. Definitely checking out the movie, and thanks for all the detail!

Lol, "Turkish bath product" makes it sound like I'm selling soap XD

The scenes will be in the third serial of this fanfic, starring a highly repressed gay teenage time traveler. There won't be any smut, I'm afraid, but a lot of UST will ensue, if you're interested ^_^

[lee_777]

This is interesting - I've never seen a fanfic with so many geek footnotes. Which is a compliment, of course.

As for Turkish baths, I just have this thing about them. Fascinating places: history, hygiene and sybarism all rolled up into one easy package. UST is good too.

I think I'll check out your Turkish bath series!

Cheers, Lee

[hangcoatcliff]

I couldn't say whether or not it helps, but if you're looking for architecture/cultural anecdotes, perhaps try:

http://www.allaboutturkey.com/ist_bath.htm

It will give you a number of baths in several locations, all of which are Ottoman. Finding further information should be quite easy from there.