Hammam Ezzedine
Hammam Ezzedine follows the traditional Mamluk arrangement of rooms that gradually increase in temperature. The large changing hall sits beneath a broad dome, with a water basin in the center and raised stone terraces around the sides. Carved recesses beneath the terraces provided spaces for bathers to keep their clothes.
The outer section, or barani, served as a lobby where visitors prepared for bathing. From there they entered the warmer middle section, or wastani, which had side rooms for washing. The inner section, or juwani, was hotter still. Smaller rooms opened around it, and an octagonal stone slab at its center was used for massage.
Instead of conventional windows, small circular openings puncture the domes above the halls and rooms. Thick glass seals these openings, admitting daylight from above while preserving the bathers’ privacy.
A wood-burning furnace in a separate service room supplied the heat. Pipes carried warmth and steam beneath the floors and through the walls, heating the bathing rooms through a system comparable in principle to central heating.
