{"id":668953,"date":"2023-08-31T09:08:08","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T09:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/?p=668953"},"modified":"2023-08-31T14:36:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T14:36:25","slug":"a-look-back-at-beiruts-public-bathhouses-havens-for-family-bonding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beirut.com\/en\/668953\/a-look-back-at-beiruts-public-bathhouses-havens-for-family-bonding\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look Back At Beirut’s Public Bathhouses: Havens For Family Bonding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know about the beloved bathhouses that were dotted across Beirut in the past? Once standing as vibrant social hubs, these establishments held a special place in the lives of locals, serving as so much more than places to cleanse and maintain hygiene. The bathhouses embodied a cherished tradition, wherein families would gather often for a full day of shared experiences. Learn more on today’s episode of Beirut’s Collective Memory<\/a>. <\/strong><\/p>

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Listen in to the stories below to learn more about these wonderfully nostalgic echoes. <\/p>

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Roman Baths – Downtown Beirut<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

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In old Beirut, bathhouses were not something new at all, and public baths continued to exist throughout the ages in walled Beirut throughout the Ottoman period to the French mandate, there were public baths for families to go to until when the bathrooms began to be part of homes in new constructions. <\/p>

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Among the traditions that used to take place in Beirut was when the bride goes to the bathhouse. The groom would then send her something called the \u201cbride’s towel\u201d or the \u201cbride’s bath bag\u201d. This was meant to showcase the generosity of the groom, and this was a very, very important tradition in Beirut because the groom\u2019s generosity was essential to marriage. In fact, it was often said that ‘the marriage dissolved in the bath’ in the event that the gifts inside the towel were scarce, which suggested that life would be difficult with this man. And one of the things that used to happen in Beirut also were invitations to the bathhouse. Meaning, women used to go to the bathhouse before noon and have a party like a feast with dancing, hookahs, and spend 3-4 hours at the bath together. And some of these parties would have more than 200 women at a time, and the women would wear all their jewelry at that time because most of the time, they would not show their jewelry except in the bathhouse.<\/p>

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Al Jadeed Bathouse<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>

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Among the most famous bathhouses was the Fakhreddine bathhouse<\/strong>, which was called the Tankiz<\/strong> bathhouse in 1632. The Turkish bath which was on Maarad Street was called the \u201cAl Jadeed Bathhouse\u201d in 1864. There was also the Ouzai bathhouse, and in Souk el Tawileh there was the Zahret Souriya (or Zahariya) bathhouse built by a member of the Zahhar family. There was also the Bahri bathhouse which was also known as the hammam of Switzerland, the Bashoura bath, and the Nuzha bath. The Nuzha Bathhouse is the only one that remained.<\/p>

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Note: sadly, Al Nuzha bathhouse is currently closed.<\/p>

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Check out our video discovering the abandoned Hamam al Nouri:<\/p>

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@beirut.com<\/a> Discovering the abandoned beauty of Hammam al-Nouri\ud83e\uddfc\ud83d\udca7: A forgotten Mamluk masterpiece in Tripoli. #abandoned<\/a>#hammam<\/a>#urbex<\/a>#hiddengem<\/a>#beirut<\/a>#tripoli<\/a>#lebanon<\/a>#fyp<\/a> \u266c Gole Yakh – Kourosh Yaghmaee<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>