Since the beginning of planet the earth! Iranian people have the most cared about their hygiene. The very first records for the use of Iranian Hammams date back as far as 3000 B.C. taking a bath in old Iran has required much effort for it had some procedure that one should obey.
Bathrooms or Iranian Hammams, in general, have some extraordinary parts. The first room of baths or Hammams, named Rakht kan or Beeneh (locker room), is an area designated for getting rid of one’s clothes. This area is the most splendid part of Hammams. With the dome-shaped roof on which some windows or skylights with colorful glasses, Hammams could be visible from a distance. Beeneh is usually a little bit colder than other parts of baths (Hammams).
The second part of baths (Iranian Hammams) is “Mian dar” (labyrinth). A complicated network of passages of this room is for those ones who want to take a bath do not enter the warmer part suddenly and those who did bath do not leave the warm room and enter the colder one. This complicated network of passages also allows the hot air not to escape the third room which is the main room. After taking these passages we arrive at the main chamber of Hammam where there are showers. In order to keep the humidity and temperature in this room balanced, one should attend to the reservoir of hot and cold water which usually were beneath the beeneh.
Since there was no fossil fuel, water in Iranian Hammams gets hot with burning foliage and animal feces. It was a daunting task to keep the water temperature at the standard. Now after taking a good bath, one feels a little tired, so here it is a Dallak (Masseur). Dallak is a person with a good tip that gives a massage that you have never experienced before. Really it freshens all the tissues of your body, it even makes you smooth on your soul!!! after giving a massage now is time for a cold beverage. Since you have been in a hot atmosphere for several hours a cold sprinkle soda is all that you need.
Here are some repaired baths (Iranian Hammams) that turned into bath museums. It really is astonishing to take a visit and enjoy the atmosphere of old bathrooms in Iran:
- Fin bathroom (UNESCO world heritage list registered) in Kashan
- Sultan Amir Ahmad Bathhouse (Qasemi Bathhouse) in Kashan
- Vakil Complex in Kerman
- Ganjali Khan Bathhouse in Kerman
- Sheikh Bahai Hammam in Isfahan
- Vakil Bath in Shiraz
