Hammams
p. 352-355
Texte intégral
1The old town of Nablus has eight hammams equally distributed through the different districts. The hammams are characteristic facilities of ancient Arab towns, but their use is clearly declining and their obsolescence seems inevitable since the advent of bathrooms in homes. In Nablus, two hammams are currently in use, while five others, whose architectural quality is undeniable, are used as workshops or warehouses or have simply been abandoned. The Hammam al-Rish, south of the Great Mosque, is in ruins and has been largely demolished. Some hammams have preserved their entire structure, others have at least saved their changing rooms, which are large rooms with particularly refined architecture.
Figure 24 – Hammam al-Sumara, scale 1:333.
Figure 25a – Hammam al-Tamimi, scale 1:333.
Figure 25b – Hammam al-Tamimi, axonometric view of the ceiling known as the view of the frog.
2There are two types of changing rooms, which are generally square in plan. In the first type, the room is covered with a dome on pendentives, pierced at the top by an oculus to bring in light, and it has a basin with a fountain in its centre. This is the layout adopted in particular for the hammams of al-Sumara, al-Shifaʾ and al-Qâdî [22], [23] and [24]. In the second type, such as the hammams al-Tamimi, al-Daraja, and al-Baydara [25], [27] and [26], the changing room is a square with nine compartments defined by four posts on which rest cross vaults. The basin is located in the centre of the room within the square defined by the four posts. The hammam al-Khalîlî [28] has a notable peculiarity in that it has two changing rooms, one of each of the two types. The first, which is the one through which one enters the hammam today, is a room with nine compartments and is used in summer, while the second, which is used in winter for preference, is a domed room surrounded by mastabas.
3Only two hammams are still open today: the Hammam al-Shifaʾ, overlooking al-Nasr Street near the Touqan Palace, and the Hammam al-Sumara, located to the south of the al-Yasmîna quarter. The hammam al-Qâdî, also located in the al-Yasmina quarter and whose structure has not been modified, has now become a confectionery workshop specialising in Turkish delight. The Hammam al-Tamimi is partially ruined, but two of the rooms, including the changing room, are well preserved and used as a confectionery workshop. The hammam of al-Daraja, to the north of the al-ʿAqaba quarter, of which only the changing room remains, and the hammam of al-Khalîlî located to the south-east of the al-Habâla quarter and whose structure is perfectly preserved, were used as warehouses and wood workshops. The Hammam al-Baydara, located to the west of al-Manâra Square, is partially ruined. Currently unused, its changing room, dating from the Mameluke period, is of great historical interest, and its structure is in a good state of preservation.
4Most of the hammams in Nablus are located deep in the urban fabric and are accessed from dead ends. They therefore have no identifiable façades in the town, and those that face the street usually only have a wall with a door. The interest of these facilities lies in the quality and richness of their interior spaces bathed in a very special zenithal light that comes, like a starry sky, from the many openings scattered across the vaults and domes.
Illustration 16 – Survey drawings, hammam al-Khalîlî.
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