After a restoration that took 13 years, a 16th-century Turkish bath located in the Zeyrek district of Instanbul reopened this September. The revitalized bath is called Çinili Hamam, and while it won’t offer traditional bathing until 2024, it will feature contemporary art in the Byzantine cisterns that originally fed the baths, as well as beautiful private gardens.
Exhibitions at Çinili Hamam
For the next couple of months, there will be a new exhibition displaying art corresponding to the building’s architecture, called “Healing Ruins.” A new museum close by will display objects used in traditional bathing rituals, such as bowls, towels, and ornately decorated wooden shoes.
The exhibit will also shed more light on the original water and heating systems of the bath. Artifacts from the Byzantine, Roman, and Ottoman empires that were uncovered in the process of restoration will also be put on display.
The History of the Çinili Hamam
The restorations have been going on since 2014, and those include archeological excavations that help further understand the history of the building, as well as conservation work for the preservation of this major example of Ottoman bath architecture. The Turkish bath originally opened around 1640 and was built by Mimar Sinan, an Ottoman architect. The Çinili Hamam had separate sections for women and men, as well as breathtakingly beautiful domed rooms.
The Turkish bath got its name from the blue tiles, with which it was originally decorated; in Turkish, çinili means “tiled.” According to research, over 10,000 tiles in 37 unique designs were used to adorn the bath when it first opened. The Çinili Hamam was among the first examples of public places that had such an elaborate tiled design that was, until then, typical for royal palaces.
What Happened to the Tiles?
Many of the tiles were sold to museums and private collectors long before the restoration work began. Some reached London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in the 19th century. The site was long neglected and in poor shape, with green mold covering the plaster, and water dripping down the walls.
As the restoration team started digging, they gradually uncovered fragments of the bath’s tiles and the other artifacts. The conservation work that was done on the interior of the building helped discover 18th and 19th-century wall paintings on the hammam’s walls, that hid behind the plaster for more than two centuries.
A Historic Site Becomes a Contemporary Space
The new art exhibition “Healing Ruins” will focus on the building’s extensive history and the mark that many generations made on the Çinili Hamam.
The Turkish bath contains multiple layers that no one suspected, which modern eyes will now have the opportunity to take in.