24.3.12

Hamam

Hamam: it's one of those words that doesn't translate well. Here in Lebanon, it's used to refer to rather amazing bath-houses and regular old bathrooms.

In this picture, you can see the roof of the hamam of a grand old house near down town. At least I've assumed it's a house. The roof is the dome studded with blue glass bottles. The bottles allow light to enter while stopping prying eyes. Inside, I'm sure the light is amazing.

It must have taken extraordinary wealth to have a private hamam back when the house was built.

Here's the same photo, a little more zoomed out.

2 comments:

  1. Cool! Or I should say, hot.

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  2. The idea of bathing under the blue bottle ceiling appeals to me.

    ReplyDelete