Abstract:

The Turks, who were the main element of Ottoman society, attached great importance to personal grooming. In this context, numerous bathhouses were constructed in Istanbul Bathhouses have been among the prominent structures capturing the interest of visitors arriving from the West to explore this city. These places were frequently employed in depicting the mystery of the East and its entertainment scene. While not as prominent as the Bathhouses (Hamam), Istanbul’s barbershops have also captured the attention of travelers, and barbers have become an important part of their stories. In 1833, while he was in Istanbul representing the Russian Empire, Konstantin Mihayloviç Bazili published his impressions of the city in his work titled “Bosphorus and New Istanbul Writings”. Bazili, in his work, provided rich explanations depicting the Ottoman military, political, commercial, and social structure. Additionally, he covered topics such as coffeehouses, coffee and tobacco consumption, boatmen, libraries, cemeteries, and epidemic diseases. In this work, emphasis has been placed on his observations regarding baths and barbershops, places frequently visited by people for personal care in the everyday life of the Ottoman Empire, aspects that he addressed at least as much as the other topics mentioned. The architecture and, especially, the economic dimension of Turkish baths, particularly those operated by foundations, have been the subject of numerous scholarly writings. These structures have also been extensively explored in Western visual arts. However, there are relatively few writings that depict the daily operations of bathhouses. While these structures have been significantly explored in Western visual arts, there remains a scarcity of writings depicting the daily operations of bathhouses. The primary aim of this article is to fill this gap, providing a more comprehensive understanding of Ottoman bathhouse culture.

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