One enters the men’s section from the camekan, a court surrounded by small individual changing rooms roofed by a dome. From there, one passes into the ılıklık (lukewarm section), where four bathrooms covered by small domes and a cleaning room draw the attention of visitors. There are sofas which are covered by a dome and presumably each one has three kurnas (marble basin) on both the left and right sides of the ıliklik. The harare (hot section) contains halvets roofed by domes. In addition to these, there was originally a marble plinth (göbek taşı) found in each of the four corners of the harare; however, these have not made it into our times.,

The women’s section of the hamam is similar to men’s section that the water well that meeted of need of water

The water well responsible for meeting the water needs of the hamam is located near the women’s section behind the Central Library of Istanbul University.

The Hamam was closed in the 1930s and has been used as a warehouse. While it was being used for storage, it was damaged due to careless maintenance and remained as such for several years. It now belongs to Istanbul University and is being repaired with the utmost to restore its original aethetic beauty.

The construction of Galatasaray Hammam stands on a mysterious story. When the Sultan Beyazit was wandering around the land where todays Galatasaray Lycee and the Galatasaray Hammam stands on now; he sees a hut.

This hut belongs to Gul Baba, a respected man of his time. Sultan Beyazit meets this man and asks him “Gul Baba – do you have any wishes?” and Gul Baba wishes the the construction of a school to conquer over the centuries and a Kulliye to have a hammam with a dome. Sultan Beyazit accepts the wish and makes the kulliye be built in 1481. Gul Baba’s grave is still in the Kulliye and the Galatasaray Hammam has conquered over the centuries just like he has wished. ( 1481 / 2007 – 526 years!)

The editor of the book ” History of Galatasaray”,  Fethi Isfendiyaroglu, states that the Galatasaray Hammam has served the students, during his education. Thus he says, as a student of Galatasaray Lycee “Before, during our times, there was hammam service every morning, the students were gathered in their dormitories every morning and taken to Galatasaray Hammam, next to the garden of the school. When the students were in the bath, the door of the hammam was closed and no other customers were let in.

The Galatasaray Hammam, adressing the centuries, have served many pashas, muslim judges ( kadi ), and grand viziers and have participated in the pure lifes of these people.

Galatasaray Hammam, with the heritage of the past,  is also modern, both in the quality of its services and the hospitality of its staff.

Source:  http://www.galatasarayhamami.com/en/hamam/

Before its construction, the palace built by Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa stood on its location. The palace was destroyed by a fire in 1740, and the Cağaloğlu Bath was erected on its site.

Essentially, the bath consists of two sections, a men’s section and ladies’ section. The entrance door of the ladies’ section is located on a side street called Hamam Street, and the men’s section is found on the main road .

Several architectural innovations are found in the bath’s design which draws the attention of its visitors who have never seen a combination of Baroque and Classical Ottoman style architecture. It is also the last of the great hamams built in the city during the Ottoman era.

The Camekan of Cağaoğlu Hamam, a court surrounded by small individual changing rooms, is covered by a wide dome. There are changing rooms which surround the Camekan which are built on consolidated beams. In the middle of the Hamam, there is a wide pool that is made of a massive marble block, and in the middle of the pool, there is a splendid fountain. The wide dome in the lukewarm section (ılıklık) is raised upon four marble columns and seven cradle-shaped domes that form the roof of the structure which extends from the lukewarm section into the harare (hot section). The hot section, raised upon eight embroidered columns, is covered by a wide dome that dazzles with its grandeur.

The Cağaloğlu Hamam has been in service for two hundred seventy-six years. Today, it is still in operation, and the vast majority of its visitors are foreign tourists.

Source : http://www.cagalogluhamami.com.tr/

The hamam has separate sections for both men and women. It was also called the Mother Sultan Bath (Valide Sultan Hamamı) and the Rose Bath (Gül Hamamı). Evliya Çelebi, the most famous Ottoman traveler, called it  Murat III Bath, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1574 until his death.

The glass case of the bath is covered by a dome, and the three stories of changing rooms have been built within a glass case. One then continues from glass case into the hot section (ılıklık) which is roofed by three domes. From the hot section into the main building which is called the harare. At the four corners of the harare, there are six halls and twelve sustaining columns that are covered by domes. In front of the halvets there are navel stones (göbek taşı) that are said they had been fixed by Köprülü Mehmet Paşa. There are inscriptions on the navel stones which have been partially erased and which display the bath’s superb architectural textures as if one were passing through a fantastic corridor of history.

The glass case (changing room) of the women’s section in the bath had been abated during road constuction and it has since operated as a pastry shop (börekçi). In addition, after the washing rooms of  the women’s section were later used for paper storage.  In 1988 the bath was restored and also reopened to visitors.

Currently, the Cemberlitas Historical Bath has continued to entertain tourists seeking the pleasures and enjoyment of a Turkish bath. As such, it deserves to be regarded as a masterpiece of Ottoman bath architecture.