“Bathing in Baku: How to hammam like a local”

“A place for cleansing and contemplation, for relaxation and conversation.

Azerbaijan's old hammam culture may have waned in recent years, but many of the city's older residents recall with nostalgia the weekly ritual of visiting the city's public baths.

In the days of the shahs, the khans and even the Russian Empire, hammams in Azerbaijan were about much more than just getting clean.

"People got together, chatted, discussed. It was a social institution where you would relax and, everything that had built up inside of you, you'd talk about it and share it," says Kamil Ibragimov, head of the archaeological department in Baku's Old City administration.(...)” (Lido em: CNN 2019-11-30)