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Extract

Barbarossa’s Baths

The Çınılı Hammam

Another masterpiece by the imperial architect Sinan, the Cınılı Hammam in the Old City of Istanbul was built for the legendary corsair-turned-admiral Barbaros Hayrettın Pasha, or Barbarossa, in the 1540s. Today it is far from grand, and only a few of the tiles that gave it the name Çınılı (Tiled) are still in evidence. But nothing can diminish the effect of the soaring curvy arches supporting a series of imposing domes

For Charles White, writing in the early 1840s, the “Tchinelly Hammam” was “one of ther neatest and most picturesque in the city”. Zeyrek, close to the imperial Fatih Mosque and the Valancian Aqueduct, was a fashionable quarter with handsome wooden houses and views to the Golden Horn.

Today it is a rough-and-tumble area, whose houses are home to poor immigrants from the east, and the baths are shabby, if picturesque. Gone is the portico that shaded the entrances to the men’s and women’s baths. But, inside, Sinan’s domes and geometry still work their magic. Çınılı is above all an architect’s hammam, and a light hand could restore it to perfection.

To read the full article, purchase Issue 41

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Issue 41, 2009 Inside Istanbul’s Grand Hammams
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Other Highlights from Cornucopia 41
  • Digging for Glory

    Bodrum’s peace was shattered in 1856 by the arrival of a warship bearing one of the most ambitious archaeological expeditions Britain has ever launched. Leading it was Charles Newton. His mission was to locate, excavate and carry home one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

  • The Poetry Within

    An antiquarian’s deliciously distressed house in the Aegean was Berrin Torolsan’s first inspiration for the text of a new book on Turkish interiors. In this extract from At Home in Turkey, with photographs by Solvi dos Santos, she is captivated by a low-key restoration.


  • Celery’s Sibling

    Although commonly regarded as a root vegetable, like the potato, carrot or turnip, the bulbous part of the celeriac plant is not actually the root but a corm, the base of the leaf stems, out of which modest roots will grow.
    More cookery features


  • Joy in a Bottle

    On the tiny island of Bozcaada (Tenedos), a mere speck in the Aegean, great wines are emerging that rival the best the world can ofer. The Corvus vineyards, once among the Mediterranean’s most celebrated, have suffered centuries of neglect. Kevin Gould raises a glass to their renaissance with the founder of Corvus, Resit Soley. www.corvus.com.tr
    See Cornucopia’s self-guided wine tour


  • Dome of Baroque

    When it was built in 1741 in the new Baroque style, Cağaloğlu was at the forefront of architectural fashion. But this temple of cleanliness in the Old City marks the dramatic swansong of the grand Ottoman hammam.

Buy the issue
Issue 41, 2009 Inside Istanbul’s Grand Hammams
£8.00 / $10.38 / 356.51 TL
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