|
The Hammam is a tribute to the marriage between stone and our search for
pleasure and comfort through the ages. Countless civilizations have
chosen to express the immortal connection between water, man and stone
by constructing a physical union where all three can converge in beauty
and tranquility. Hammams are an intriguing subject as they reflect the
story of the synthesis between East and West. For example, marble and
other stones have been an integral element in Turkish and Mughal India's
Hammams that find their origins in Greek, Roman and ancient Byzantine
daily life. Intended to impart medicinal benefits as well as provide a
venue for socializing, the Hammam was regarded as the center point of
life from Rome's Britannia to Granada's Alhambra and from Constantinople
to Mughal India. A case might be made that the use of stone in spa design
reached its artistic pinnacle and most evolved manifestation in the Hammams of
India's Mughal Emperors.
|
