- Address: Irfan Bey Sokak 9, North Nicosia, Cyprus
- Phone: +90 548 830 0881
- Website: grandturkishhamam.com
- Opening hours: from 7.00 to 22.00
- Cost of visit: 50 TL
Regardless of whether you came to Cyprus for the first time or more than once visited its capital Nicosia , you should visit one of its attractions - traditional Turkish baths Büyük-Hamam, which are a unique monument of oriental architecture. They were built five hundred years ago, in 1571, and are still the subject of the national pride of the Cypriots. Previously, the Catholic Church of St. George was located in the place of the bathhouse, but in the time of the Ottoman Empire it was destroyed to the ground, and in its place was erected this original in its external appearance building.
Büyük-Hamam has always been popular with local residents, since in those days there were no specially equipped places for bathing in many houses. Now the baths are very comfortable for visitors thanks to a careful restoration, which lasted for 5 years since 2005 under the auspices of the United Nations.
What are the remarkable baths Büyük-Hamam?
The peculiarity of the building is that at its visit you can still see a unique architectural element - the arch of the main entrance, decorated with exquisite antique carvings. It is preserved from the Christian church, formerly located on this site, and is presented in its original form, harmoniously fitting into the new design of the building. However, because of the impressive age, the doorway has strongly sagged, and now the entrance is a meter below the road level. There is a theory that this is due to periodically repeated earthquakes, which caused the subsidence of the ground under the foundation of the structure. After all, Cyprus is in a potentially seismically dangerous zone.
These Turkish baths are still active, but there are no male and female branches here. Men and women come here on different days, and the entrance fee. However, at certain times it is possible to visit joint bathing procedures, as well as simply inspect the building as a tourist. Now it is divided into the following premises:
- hot department;
- cold compartment;
- dressing rooms.
In addition to the traditional services for the steam room, you will be offered a massage. Here there are experienced masseurs specializing in different types:
- Penal massage (duration about 1.5 hours);
- Swedish massage;
- aromatic massage, etc.
The cost of the procedures includes the price of shampoo, towels, as well as a cup of tea or Turkish coffee, which you can treat yourself after the thermal procedures. Be sure to specify the price: for tourists it is much higher than for the inhabitants of Cyprus. In addition, for a small fee, local bathhouse attendants willingly show you all the possibilities of the steam room, which you probably did not hear.
How to get to the baths?
To get to Büyük-Hamam, you need to walk 100 m from the central bus station in an easterly direction, then turn to Ledras street and walk along it until the very end (about 600 m). After this, walk another 100 m along Iplik Pazari Sk to its intersection with Irfan Bey Sk.
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