LET OFF STEAM
Tracing its origins back to the sumptuous, communal bath houses of the ancient Romans, the hamam cleansed and relaxed the inhabitants of the once mighty Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years. Despite the adoption of domestic bathrooms as living standards increased, the hamam has maintained its importance in modern Turkey.
With its steamy, marble-clad rooms at different temperatures, scrubs and massages, the hamam forms the focal point of the spa and wellness centres in many of the modern spa hotels that form a niche but increasingly important part of the visitor experience. It helps that much of Turkey is volcanic, with natural hot springs often integrated into spa hotels and wellness centres.
Bursa, across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul, is famed for its historic, hot spring-fed public baths dating back to Byzantine times. Roman emperors once bathed in the hot springs at Termal, an attractive spa resort not far from Bursa. Spa hotels dot the environs of Aegean Hierapolis, a Greco-Roman city built among the famed travertine formations of Pamukkale, and which still has a functioning warm mineral pool resplendent with fallen columns.
More off the beaten track are the thermal resorts around inland Afyon, mid-way between Istanbul and Antalya. Even more remote are the hot springs at Ayder, high in the formidable but beautiful Kackar Mountains behind Turkey’s eastern Black Sea coast. But wherever you go in Turkey, there will almost certainly be a hotel with splendid hamam and spa facilities – it’s just part of the culture.
Wellbeing Escapes (020 3735 7555; wellbeingescapes.com) offers a variety of spa and wellness packages at the luxurious Six Senses Kaplankaya hotel near Bodrum from £1,420pp for a five-night stay including wellness package. Sanctuary Spa Holidays (01293 229 895; sanctuary spa holidays. co.uk) has one-week stays at the Kempinski Hotel in Barbaros Bay near Bodrum, from £725 excluding flights. Entry to the historic hot-spring fed pool of Kursunlu Banyo in Termal (an hour or so by ferry from Istanbul followed by a short bus or taxi ride) is a bargain at £3.75. A swim among Roman columns at Hi era pol is Pamukka lei san equal snip at £4