Hammam: an ancient ritual loved by the Romans and Cleopatra

When we think of luxury wellness, most of us imagine a modern jacuzzi, a Finnish sauna or a designer cooling unit. But sometimes it’s worth looking back – way back. The thousands-of-years-old tradition of the hammam offers something that modern spa treatments can hardly match: a ritual that cleanses the body and mind at the same time.

Where does the hammam come from?

Although the hammam is most strongly associated with Turkey today, its roots go even deeper – to the Roman baths. The ancient Romans were masters of body care, and it was their spa culture that became the basis of what we experience today in the Turkish hammam. The Ottoman Empire adopted this concept, developed it and elevated it to a ritual with a spiritual dimension.

The word hammam literally means a hall with a wide marble platform. This is the heart of the whole procedure.

What awaits you — step by step

The whole experience begins with changing into a peshtemal – a traditional cotton towel that is worn around the waist in the Turkish ritual. Women usually wear a swimsuit underneath. In an authentic setting, the outfit also includes wooden takunya sandals, which protect you from slipping on the wet marble.

Then it’s time for the marble bed. You lie down on a heated surface in a room with a temperature of around 50 °C and a humidity of 90%. The body gradually warms up deep down, the muscles relax, and the mind calms down.

The masseur then proceeds to the exfoliation ritual with a kessa glove. The special texture of the glove removes dead skin cells surprisingly effectively – and you’ll find that your skin could have been silky all along, it just didn’t know it. This is followed by a rich soap lather created from a textile bag that covers the entire body, and then a relaxing massage. The whole ritual is interspersed with alternating hot and cold water – a classic contrast therapy that has been working here for thousands of years.

Hammam options: classic or with a story?

The Turkish classic is based on soap foam and oriental oil applied at the end. Simple, tried and tested, perfect.

The honey hammam adds cane sugar and honey to the classic exfoliation ritual. Honey draws toxins out of the skin, helps with skin problems and has significant regenerative effects. Cleopatra, without exaggeration, used it as the foundation of her beauty – and she knew a thing or two about skin care.

The Moroccan (Berber) massage uses argan oil, which is literally worked into the skin using a special technique, from where its active ingredients are absorbed into the bloodstream. This procedure originally served as a preparatory ritual for brides – they regularly attended it three to six months before the wedding. The aim was to achieve perfectly prepared skin, but also to symbolically wash away everything old before a new chapter in life.

An intimate ritual with a deeper meaning

In authentic Turkish baths, men and women are strictly separated from each other – each gender has its own dedicated space and specific procedure. The men’s hammam is called Erkekler Hamamı, and the women’s is called Kadınlar Hamamı. The procedure is considered a private and intimate cleansing – not only physical, but above all mental.

Modern hammams for tourists and wellness resorts are abandoning this division, and couples can enjoy the procedures together.

In the Czech Republic? Still a rarity, but the situation is changing

The easiest way to experience an authentic hammam is directly in Turkey, Morocco or Tunisia. In the Czech Republic, you will currently only find it in some wellness resorts and water parks, which are gradually adding it to their offer – but those who are looking for it will definitely find it.

And good news for families: the hammam is also suitable for children. The only modification is to omit the thorough exfoliation step, which would be too intense for a child’s delicate skin.

Why the old way still works

Thousands of years of practice is no coincidence. The hammam survived the fall of Rome, the Ottoman conquests and the advent of modern cosmetics – because it works. A warm body, silky skin, a relaxed mind and a feeling that you can’t describe exactly, but you recognise immediately. For such an experience, it really is worth going to the other side of the world.

Are you interested in how to integrate a hammam or other elements of wet heat therapy into a larger wellness concept? At www.imaginox.com you will find inspiration from hotel and private wellness projects, where water features, saunas and relaxation zones form an interconnected whole. A properly designed wellness environment is more than the sum of its individual products.