A short history of Turkish Baths

What is a Turkish bath?

At its core, a Turkish bath is about heat, and more importantly, how you move through it.

Unlike a traditional bath or swim where water is the starting point, a Turkish bath begins with warm air. You move through a series of heated rooms, gradually increasing the temperature. This allows your body to warm up slowly before eventually cooling down again, whether that’s resting in cooler air, usually laid back on a deckchair or bed, or taking a cold water plunge.

It is not something to rush. The whole experience is built around taking your time, letting your body adjust, and settling into the process.

The version we know today comes from the Ottoman hammam, which itself was influenced by earlier Roman bathing traditions. What you experience now is something that has evolved over centuries rather than appearing all at once.

How is it different to Russian and Roman baths?

Although they are often grouped together, Turkish, Russian, and Roman baths all feel quite different once you experience them.

Turkish baths use hot, dry air and are designed to ease you in gradually. The heat builds slowly, giving your body time to adjust.

Russian baths, or banyas, are more intense, using steam and humidity to create a sharper, more immediate heat. It tends to feel more direct, and often more challenging.

Roman baths take a different approach again, focusing more on water than air. You move between pools of different temperatures, from hot to cold, with the emphasis on immersion rather than atmosphere.

In simple terms, Turkish baths guide you into the heat, Russian baths deliver it more directly, and Roman baths centre the experience around water.

David Urquhart and Turkish baths

The introduction of Turkish baths to the UK can largely be traced back to David Urquhart.

As a Scottish diplomat travelling through the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century, he experienced the hammam firsthand and became convinced of its benefits, both for health and general wellbeing.

At that time, Britain was dealing with the realities of rapid industrialisation. Cities were crowded, sanitation was poor, and regular access to washing was limited for many people. Urquhart saw Turkish baths as something that could help address that, not just as a luxury, but as something genuinely useful.

He wrote about them, spoke about them, and pushed the idea widely, eventually inspiring Dr Richard Barter to open one of the first modern Turkish baths in Ireland in the 1850s. From there, the idea quickly took hold.

The Victorian boom of baths and hygiene

By the 1870s, Turkish baths had become a common feature across many towns and cities in the UK.

They met a clear need at the time. Regular bathing at home was not something everyone had access to, so shared spaces for washing were important. Alongside that, they were believed to offer health benefits, particularly for circulation and respiratory conditions, and they became social spaces where people would spend time rather than simply wash and leave.

Many of these bathhouses were also beautifully designed, with tiled interiors, vaulted ceilings, and a sequence of rooms that reflected their Ottoman influence. They were as much about the experience as they were about hygiene.

This rise in popularity also sat alongside wider public health movements. People like Kitty Wilkinson had already demonstrated the importance of cleanliness in reducing the spread of disease. During a cholera outbreak in the 1830s in Liverpool, she opened her home so neighbours could use her boiler to wash clothes and themselves. It made a significant difference at the time and helped shift attitudes towards hygiene and shared washing facilities, making communal bathing both accepted and necessary.

Decline and revival of Turkish baths

As we moved into the twentieth century, the role of Turkish baths began to change.

With the introduction of private bathrooms in homes, the need for public bathing spaces declined. What had once been essential gradually became optional, and changing leisure habits, along with the disruption of two world wars, led to many bathhouses closing or being repurposed.

Despite this, a number of baths survived, particularly in spa towns such as Bath and Harrogate. In more recent years, there has been a renewed interest in these spaces, with some being restored and reopened, and others inspiring newer interpretations of bathing culture.

Why the revival?

The return of interest in Turkish baths feels closely linked to a wider shift in how people approach wellbeing.

There is more awareness now around the benefits of slowing down, taking time to rest, and using heat and cold as part of that process. Practices that once felt old fashioned are being looked at again with fresh interest.

If you want to read more about hot and cold therapy, Winter Swimming: The Nordic Way Towards a Healthier and Happier Life is a great place to start.

Why Turkish baths still matter

What Turkish baths offer has not really changed, even if the world around them has.

They are still places where people gather, but in a quieter, more considered way. Spaces where conversation happens naturally, without the noise or pace of more typical social settings.

For those who spend time in cold water, there is something particularly familiar about them. The movement between heat and cold, the sense of recovery, and that feeling of resetting the body all echo what many cold water swimmers already experience outdoors.

It is a simple rhythm, but one that continues to feel relevant, regardless of how much everything else changes.

Now you know a bit more about the history of Turkish baths, why not visit one?

Read my review of London’s Porchester Turkish Baths.