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The article “Turkish Sauna or Hamam” introduces Turkish sauna culture. How does a Turkish bath differ from a Finnish sauna? Do you have to go in naked? Do men and women take a sauna separately? What are the special features of hamam? How did it all start?

History of the Turkish bath

Turkey has always had a strong spa culture as it is closely connected to the Islamic tradition. Prophet Muhammad was hesitant about the sweat baths at first. He thought the old Arab way was better and healthier.

The old tradition was to only wash with cold water. However, Muhammad later changed his mind. He became convinced that sweat baths could actually increase fertility.

The word “hammam” means to heat up in Arabic. In Hebrew, Haman means to be warm.

The Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453. At that time there were 153 spas and 8 large terms there. The Islamic Turks had been acquainted with the Greek sweat sauna as well as the Roman spas for hundreds of years.

Gradually, two different types of Hamam emerged: Kaplica and Ilica. They were built near hot springs and had a hot water pool in the middle of the warmest room. The latter also had a “sweat podium” in the middle of the room.

Massages are also a big part of the Turkish bath. In the middle of Harare is an octagonal marble podium. The podium is said to be the “navel stone” on which the bather is washed. On it, the bather reveals his belly button to the washer, hence the name.

There are also smaller chambers where bathers can wash privately.

The Islamic hamam has its origins in Syrian terms, and the tradition started as early as the 300s and 600s.

The first hamams were built outside of the city, in the deserts.

Hamam belongs to the Islamic religion and is a requisite part of mosque visits. A Muslim cannot go to a mosque to pray unless he is washed and these religious wash rituals can be done in hamam.

The hamams were open to everyone regardless of social status. The spa fee was paid according to wealth and conscience.

Hamam had many services; you could get your hair cut, shave your beard and pubic hair, wash your hair and torso. The lower body hair removal was done in a private room. It could be done by someone else, or the washer could use a depilatory cream. This was very popular and was made of a mineral called rusma mixed with lime powder and water.

Hamam or the Turkish bath

The hamam, or the Turkish bath, does not have a stove. It is heated by a heating system running through the floors and walls. The hamam is heated through a pipe system with either wood or coal. In some countries, they were even heated with cow or camel manure or straw.

Usually, there is one cool room called Maslak, a warm room called tepidarium and a hot room called harara/harare. In addition to these, there may be a dressing room, washroom, small washbasins, hot tub or jacuzzi.

Hammams usually do not have windows, there are only vents on the walls and on the ceiling.

The idea is to move from a cooler room to a warm room and then to the hot room. Between the different rooms, you can visit the hot tub or a whirlpool.

Are people naked in the hamam?

There are dressing rooms where you undress and leave your clothes before you enter the baths and saunas. You change to a swimsuit or wrap a towel around you.

In the past, it was customary to take a bath naked. Women and men had their own separate rooms. According to some old texts, sometimes (especially) the women could get a bit wild in the baths.

Washing in the hamam

Hamams have separate washers for men and women. In other words, men wash men and women wash women. Washing is probably the most important part of hamam experience. Soap and foam are used extensively. It is possible for you to wash yourself if you so wish.

Massage in the hamam

It is also possible to have a massage in the hamams. This takes place before the washing and/or at the end of the sauna visit.

After sauna

You may be able to have a massage. The massage can be just a normal massage or mixed with beautician’s services. You might get a face mask or an exfoliation as a part of your massage.

The difference between a Turkish bath and a Finnish sauna is that even though it is hot, it is not necessarily as hot as a Finnish sauna. There is no stove in the saunas and therefore you

cannot throw water onto the sauna stove to create steam. The humidity percentage is higher because the baths use a lot of water. Turkish baths are built of marble, tiles, and mortar.

My own experiences

I was on vacation in the summer of 2011 in Alanya, Turkey and one day trip destination was a Hamam. I wanted to experience the Turkish bath. I can say that the experience was one of the best. I highly recommend it.

Our hotel arranged a trip to a nearby hamam. We weren’t really instructed in any way about what we should take with us to the sauna. We grabbed towels, bikinis and a change of clothes. I didn’t take my wallet with me because we had already paid the hotel for the hammam. That was a mistake.

It’s been so long since this trip, so I don’t necessarily remember the order in which things happened.

We changed into bikinis in the dressing room, took the towels with us and went to listen to the instructions. If I remember correctly, we showered first.

The first room we went into was a Finnish type of sauna which was really hot. I remember being able to choose which sauna to go to first. Afterwards, we took a shower and went to a whirlpool.

After the jacuzzi, we went to a eucalyptus steam bath. The temperature was around 40-50 Celsius.

After that, we went to the “cold sauna”. It probably did not make any sense to go to the saunas in that order. We showered again and then waited for our treatment.

The first treatment meant going to the “navel stone” where the dead skin cells were washed away. The washer was a woman and she washed me with a sponge orcloth.

After another shower, I went to wait for the foam wash. If I remember correctly, the foam wash was done by a man. He also did something to my neck and back. I felt super relaxed after that.

The face mask incident

After all this, it was time for the massage. It was really nice, and, in the end, she put a lovely clay mask on my face. I don’t remember at what point we washed it away. Maybe before we got on the bus.

There is a funny story about the face mask. We had become acquainted with a Finnish woman, and she came to us after her massage with a clay mask on her face. She asked us: “Since when do we have face masks on?”. We almost died of laughter; it was just so funny. I still remember it like it was yesterday.

The most embarrassing thing about this Hamam experience was that we did not bring any cash. We should have tipped the employees. I felt so bad leaving without paying them properly. Especially as I know now that they get the bulk of their income from tips.

Based on this personal experience, I can only recommend a Turkish bath or hamam.

Hopefully this “Turkish sauna or Hamam” article was helpful to you when you are looking for information about the Turkish sauna culture. Or maybe you are planning a trip to Turkey and want to visit a real hamam?

Are you interested in other sauna cultures? The blog also provides comprehensive information on other sauna cultures. Why not start with Russian sauna culture?

Read more: Russian sauna culture

Regards Sauna-Kati

Source: Martti Vuorenjuuri: Sauna kautta aikojen (Sauna through the ages) book.

In the “What does it cost to build a Finnish sauna in Germany”-article, I will tell you a little bit about our sauna construction project and what it all cost.

I started the World of Sauna blog to help expatriate Finns and other sauna fans to build their own Finnish sauna. I really hope my blog has helped you with your sauna related questions and that this post will be helpful to you too.

How much does it cost to build a sauna?

I have recently come across questions about the costs of sauna construction. How much does it cost to build a Finnish sauna and where can you get one cheaply? To this I say, cheap is not what you want.

It is not possible to build or buy a “cheap” Finnish sauna. And I think that is a good thing.

A Finnish sauna that is built properly will cost money.

There is a sauna construction boom in Germany

There has been a real sauna boom in Germany for the past year. I must admit that at times I’ve been downright horrified. I have seen some very inexperienced builders and odd, even dangerous building solutions.

I have more than once asked myself; are there no good sauna construction books available in German? Apparently, the sauna building manual by Rakennustieto has been published in German. However, it is already sold out and secondhand copies are very expensive and hard to come by. I think this is where the Germans are going wrong. They try to “save money” and do not invest in a good instruction manual. That’s perhaps the worst mistake you can make.

Without good instructions, you can make major mistakes. For example, someone on Facebook proudly showed how he had put black garbage bags behind the insulation. I could not believe my eyes; I was so shocked.

The price of wood in Germany

Right now, the price of wood is incredibly high, and wood is running out everywhere. This partly explains why sauna prices have risen. In addition, the demand for saunas has also increased. It’s a seller’s market.

Sauna is a big business in Germany

There are many different options available for someone who wants to build their own sauna in Germany. Some of them are great but some (unnamed) companies are not. They try to sell their customers low-quality saunas for low prices; some of these saunas cost only € 2,000. Every Finn knows that you can’t get a real Finnish sauna at that price. These saunas

are so-called bathroom saunas, which (in the worst-case scenario) are put in the corner of the bedroom or living room.

At what price do you get a good sauna?

Last winter, I had a conversation with a Finnish Sauna representative. He stated that it is impossible to build a good Finnish sauna for under 5,000 €. He said it is a fact every sauna builder should know before starting the process.

I would argue that you can’t get a Finnish sauna for less than € 10,000. Or, perhaps it is even more, something like € 15,000? Let me know what you think about my estimations in the comments.

What does it cost to build a sauna in Germany?

We did indeed build a Finnish sauna in Germany in 2015-2016. Construction of the sauna began in 2015 with cast-in-place. Everything went smoothly and we almost finished our sauna in one week.

However, the concrete floor had to dry, and then we needed to order more wall panels. Building materials for a sauna are not available at every hardware store and custom items take a long time to arrive. In the end, we had to wait till the next a year before the sauna was finally ready.

My partner and my father were primarily responsible for building the sauna. My husband did all the budgeting and kept records of what everything cost. Of course, this was some years ago so some bills and receipts may have gotten lost along the way.

How long does it take to build a sauna? What about the costs?

Only the building materials are included in this calculation. We did not have any labour costs because my husband and father did most of the work. The hourly wage of a carpenter, electrician and plumber is usually about 50 -100 € in Germany.

Building the sauna took approximately one week. My father and husband worked about 8 hours a day. They did work less on some days so it is not an accurate number, but I would argue that it took a little over a week. I think they could have made it in one week without the delays.

Concreting, bathroom building materials and the construction of the sauna lounge are not included in this calculation. The lounge was a big project; first, a 3 x 5 meters deep hole was dug, then came the concreting, doors, panels, etc.

Also, the wooden foundation of the sauna is not included here. I did not find any receipts so I cannot say what that cost.

I will try to write another post where I go deeper into the lounge and bathroom projects. It is a bit harder to find all the receipts and old bills for them, but I will try my best. However, my

partner said that the entire sauna project (including the shower and lounge) has cost over € 15,000. This estimate still excludes salaries and rental equipment.

Building a sauna is not cheap, nor should it be.

The size of the sauna

Our sauna is quite small, designed for three people. However, we have really put it to the test and noticed that six Finnish women fit in the sauna at the same time. Four on the upper benches and two on the lower benches.

The sauna is 160 cm long, 180 cm wide and 190 cm high.

What it costs to build a sauna in Germany:

Stove, Tulikivi Sumu, with remote control 1325 €
Stove stones (66 kg) € 80.55
Wall, and ceiling panel – Alder (15 x 90 mm, 1800mm) € 377.58 (without the second order)
Heat-treated bench, backrest, and front bench -Apple 285 €
Glass door (70 x 190 cm) € 112.81
Corner rail – Alder (14 x 30 mm, 2400 mm) € 4.86
Aluminium paper and tape € 33.92
Supi sauna wax 8.04 €
Ventilation grille € 8.39

A total of € 2236.15

What does it cost to build a sauna in Germany?

€ 2,500 sounds very cheap to me. However, this number only covers the raw materials for the sauna. Bathroom and sauna tiles, floors, floor drains, sealants, etc. are not included in this estimate.

If I had to calculate the working hours, I would say they were around 2 x 40 h, i.e., 80 working hours in total. That would make € 4,000€ with an hourly wage of 50 €. And I do not think this includes all the work that went into the sauna.

I hope this “What does it cost to build a Finnish sauna in Germany?”-article helps you to better estimate the costs if you are thinking about building your own sauna. Please share your experiences in the comments and (if you feel like) tell us how much your sauna cost.

Sauna regards, Kati