FOR A SHOWER AND FOR THE SOUL

Cities in the East are unthinkable without a bath-house [hamam]. They are moreover not simply architectural objects, but the witnesses of traditions that have disappeared together with the old world. The bath-houses of the East are meeting places where people do business and socialise. The bath-houses invariably have a tea-house and even a restaurant. Even if the outside does not look up to much, the interior of the bath-house is definitely an architectural masterpiece.

The "Fantasy" bath-house

Elements of eastern and European architecture are interwoven in Baku's bath-houses. The "Fantazia" bath-house which opened on 13 January 1897, is a fine example in its own way and the most luxurious of them. Initially you were not predicted to go bankrupt there, because the prices were quite reasonable. This is what the "Kaspiy" ["Caspian"] newspaper wrote at the time: "Most of the Baku capitalists preferred to put their capital into the oil enterprises which provided as much as 30-per-cent dividend. The owner of the "Fantazia" bath-house is unlikely to make more than 4 per cent, if we focus on its perfection and capital-input in its equipment, the special water pipe from Shemakhinka and so forth."

The water at the "Fantazia" was fresh water, there were individual and communal rooms, a restaurant and even a conference room. It had electric lighting, and the roof was even flood-lit, a visual demonstration that the creators of the baths were right up-to-date. The "Fantazia" fully justified its name inside. There were numerous classical Greek-style statuettes, an eastern mosaic, and all this was lit with electric lamps, which were considered a real luxury and even a wonder at that time. There was a fountain in the centre of the communal room at the "Fantazia", which was also lit by different-coloured electric lights.

The high walls in the hallway of the "Fantazia" were embellished with stucco moulding; the walls were decorated with filigree frescoes; owing to the stained glass and the shebeke [ancient vitrage craftwork] the windows looked like an expensive item of jewellery. The internal courtyard, in the centre of which there was a fountain with goldfish in it, was also amazing in its luxurious appearance. This led directly into the baths which occupied a whole block. Even members of the middle class could go to the "Fantazia". As mentioned above, the prices were quite reasonable and a subscription came with a 15-per-cent discount, and in summer the prices were lower.

In the early Soviet years the baths were looted when property was handed over to the commissars. Now there is a children's polyclinic, a post-office and flats on the site of the baths, and only a bas-relief in the form of a lion with a drinking fountain that no longer works is a reminder of what was there.

There were also several other really luxurious bath-houses in Baku, prominent among them was the Mariinskaya (R. Rza Street, not far from AGNA) and the Mironovskaya (in the centre of S. Rustam Street). Besides these there were the "Decadence" and "Hermitage" baths.

Ordinary baths

You might ask what there was for ordinary people. In those times, hardly anyone had a bathroom, but the workers, the farm-labourers and the sailors had to wash themselves somewhere. There were ordinary baths for them. They were built in plain, classical eastern style. Nevertheless, on the outside or in the inside courtyard of these baths there was almost always a tea-house. 

The ordinary baths consisted of just one room, except for the entrance halls. They usually had a classical dome-shaped ceiling decorated with a blue-green pattern. The floor and walls were constructed of ordinary stone. The shortage of water due to economy was compensated for with a sweating-room, since at the end you just had to pour some water over yourself. Baku's old residents and the poor used a special foaming clay called "gilabi" instead of soap. There were three types - blue, yellow and white. The white "gilabi" was brought from Buzovna [near Baku] and the blue and yellow sorts were extracted in large quantities in the settlement of Sabuncu (soap maker), whose name speaks for itself. The white clay was used for washing hair, the yellow for washing the body and the blue one for washing clothes. 

In general, a visit to the baths took Baku's residents at least a couple of hours. The baths had their own rules, their own etiquette and traditions. Those who wish to learn more about the colourful place which is sinking into oblivion, should read about it in the story by Maksud Ibrahimbayov "And there was no better brother". 

The medium-level baths had separate rooms and bath attendants. After the baths, it was customary to go to the tea-house. There were a lot of small tables there since people usually liked to enjoy their own space and no-one would sit down with you unless they asked you first. The tea-houses in some baths provided hubble-bubbles [hookahs] and backgammon. Another tradition of the baths was that they never played for money there. The baths were a place for a calm, relaxing rest and not for amusement and gambling. For this reason, alcohol was never served there.

The baths were not only a place for men to sit around in. There were ladies' sessions there too with their own traditions and customs. There were also separate bath-houses for women. But what is interesting is that alcohol was served in the bath-house tea-rooms on ladies' days. Women possibly had more moderate drinking habits. They drank red wine there and brought in their own food. In general, women had a special small bath chest with a belt round it, which was called "hamam sandygy". They would take it with them along with a jug of wine. It was traditional for every girl to have a "hamam sandgi" in her dowry. Food for the road and cosmetics - kohl for the eyelashes and "vesme" for the eyebrows -were kept in it; later on the dye "vesme" was replaced by an eyebrow pencil

A little bit of history

Hack Baani, the oldest of the well-known Baku bath-houses was only found on the territory of the Old City in the 1960s, and had been buried under residential dwellings for a long time before that. Other ancient bath-houses are also there such as Aga Mikael, Aga Zeya and Qasimbay. Of all the ancient bath-houses only Aga Makail is still operating.

The Qasimbay bath-house was built at the end of the 18th century. Legend has it that the bath-house's domes corresponded to the number of wives and concubines the merchant Qasimbay had. This bath-house is not such an old one, but also lay buried for a long time. They did find it and restored it simply by looking at the city's architectural documents. As we can see, the bath-house traditions have extremely deep roots. Progress has changed the world, it has become better, but alongside that it has become more hurried and busy. At the same time, much has disappeared from life which made our ancestors interesting and colourful.