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Treat your spirit, mind and body to towels, pestamel, robes, bedcovers, linens, tableclohes and more made all made on OLD-STYLE LOOMS from nature's best ORGANIC certified cotton, linen, bamboo & silk.
The journey wouldn't be complete without natural soaps, natural kese, pure rose water & rose oil, natural face & body products ...
The art of Weaving
Weaving is the textile art in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads, called the warp and weft, are interlaced with each other to form a fabric or cloth. The warp threads run lengthways of the piece of cloth, and the weft runs across from side to side.Cloth is woven on a loom, a device for holding the warp threads in place while the filling threads are woven through them. Weft is an old English word meaning "that which is woven".Woven cloth can be plain (in one color or a simple pattern), or it can be woven in decorative or artistic designs.
- Jennifer's Hamam rated "excellent" by 3 travelers
What is a Hamam?
The 'Hamam' is an ancient steam bath concept that goes back as far as the Romans who passed on the idea to the Byzantines and then on to the Turks.
Although the concept can be found throughout the world, it's the Turks who named it and have embraced it since Ottoman times.
Islam emphasizes personal cleanliness and until the addition of bathrooms in homes in recent decades, the Turks relied on the hamam to take care of all their personal hygiene needs.
Although in-home bathrooms have reduced the number of daily visitors in most hamams, they are still a meeting place for the community.
The traditional hamam will either have separate facilities for men and women OR separate times for the two.
Although the concept can be found throughout the world, it's the Turks who named it and have embraced it since Ottoman times.
Islam emphasizes personal cleanliness and until the addition of bathrooms in homes in recent decades, the Turks relied on the hamam to take care of all their personal hygiene needs.
Although in-home bathrooms have reduced the number of daily visitors in most hamams, they are still a meeting place for the community.
The traditional hamam will either have separate facilities for men and women OR separate times for the two.
History of the Towel
The 'towel' was a very important part of Turkish social life and continues to be so. Originally it was used for the ceremonial bath of a bride before her wedding and for important occasions later in life. The Turkish bath (hamam)too has, of course, had an undeniable relationship with these towels, as had the royalty of the Ottoman Empire. The towel would still have been the drab piece of bath accessory if the Ottomans did not intercede in the 17th century. They brought style, design and flair to towels.
Their Turkish towels, called pestamel, were first hand-loomed in modern day Bursa in the 17th century for the Turkish bath (hamam). Pestamel is a flat woven piece of material approximately 90 x 110cm. Orginally, most pieces were made with cotton and linen and very practical for the Turkish bath as they stayed light when wet and were very absorbent. The weavers went to great lengths to make these towels look beautiful while still being useful.
As time went on, weavers were pushed to come up with new and different designs for the royal court. Sometime in the 18th century an entirely new style of towel was invented called 'havly. This towel was different than its predecessor as it had extra warp loops which created a pile that was thick and luxurious. This was the beginning of towel we know all over the world today. Over time havly was changed to 'havlu' which is the current day actual Turkish word for towel.
Today, most pestamel and havlu are factory made; however, there are a few families holding onto the old traditions and producing both flat-woven pestamel and piled havlu in the same way the Ottoman weaver's did hundreds of years ago.
Their Turkish towels, called pestamel, were first hand-loomed in modern day Bursa in the 17th century for the Turkish bath (hamam). Pestamel is a flat woven piece of material approximately 90 x 110cm. Orginally, most pieces were made with cotton and linen and very practical for the Turkish bath as they stayed light when wet and were very absorbent. The weavers went to great lengths to make these towels look beautiful while still being useful.
As time went on, weavers were pushed to come up with new and different designs for the royal court. Sometime in the 18th century an entirely new style of towel was invented called 'havly. This towel was different than its predecessor as it had extra warp loops which created a pile that was thick and luxurious. This was the beginning of towel we know all over the world today. Over time havly was changed to 'havlu' which is the current day actual Turkish word for towel.
Today, most pestamel and havlu are factory made; however, there are a few families holding onto the old traditions and producing both flat-woven pestamel and piled havlu in the same way the Ottoman weaver's did hundreds of years ago.