Çemberlitaş Hamam

This historic Turkish bath near the Column of Constantine was commissioned by Nurbanu Sultan and designed by the architect Mimar Sinan in the 1580s. Still operating as a public hammam, it retains its original domed hot rooms with star-shaped skylights piercing the marble ceilings above a heated central platform. Separate sections historically served men and women, and bathers continue the age-old ritual of steam, scrub and massage beneath the vaulting. As a working monument of classical Ottoman architecture, it can be used as intended.