The Cağaloğlu Hammam (Cağaloğlu Hamamı) stands in the Cağaloğlu neighbourhood, a few minutes' walk from [Hagia Sophia](/fr/attractions/sainte-sophie-istanbul) and the [Basilica Cistern](/fr/attractions/citerne-basilique). Built in 1741 under Sultan Mahmud I, it is described as the last great hammam built by the Ottoman Empire, and it still operates as a public bath. Packages start at €95 for about 45 minutes of treatments and go up to €400 for nearly two and a half hours. Men and women are received in two separate sections, each with its own entrance and attendants of the same sex; there is no package for couples.
Highlights
The men's entrance
It opens onto the main street, Prof. Kazım İsmail Gürkan Caddesi, under a doorway framed by two marble columns with stalactite capitals. The women's entrance is on the side street, Hamam Street.
A bath built for a library
Begun by the architect Süleyman Ağa and completed by Abdullah Ağa, the building was meant to fund, through its takings, the library founded by Mahmud I inside Hagia Sophia, then a mosque. It is the last example of this type of double hammam built in Istanbul.
The three rooms of the bath
You move from the camekan, the reception hall with its changing cubicles, to the soğukluk, a warm room covered by seven barrel vaults, then to the sıcaklık, the hot room, arranged around a large heated central marble slab, the göbek taşı, and corner niches.
What a basic package involves
All packages follow the same sequence: 15 minutes of rest in the hot room, which works like a sauna, 10 minutes of scrubbing with the kese, a single-use mitt, then a soap-foam bath with massage, lasting 20 minutes in the €95 package and 35 minutes in the higher ones. The treatment ends with Turkish tea, home-made sherbet and Turkish delight.
Packages and prices
The İstanbul Dream: €95, about 45 minutes (hot room, kese, 20 minutes of foam). Tip to Toe: €135, 60 minutes, with 35 minutes of foam. Cagaloglu Hammam: €170, about 80 minutes, with an extra 20-minute foot massage. The Ottoman Luxury Service: €240, 115 minutes, with a 45-minute aromatherapy massage in a private room. Sultan Mahmud The First: €300, about 2 hours 30 minutes, scrub and foam by two attendants, foot massage, collagen mask and aromatherapy massage. Elixir of Cağaloğlu Hammam: €400, about 2 hours 30 minutes, with a full-body clay mask, aromatherapy massage and foot and hand massage. Extras: 30-minute foot massage €80, 45-minute aromatherapy massage €125, detoxifying clay mask €40.
What is provided
The hammam provides the peştemal (cotton wrap), towels, single-use slippers, Ayvalık olive oil soap, linden shampoo, hair conditioner and body lotion. The two most expensive packages also include a peştemal to take home, cologne and the house cosmetics. You therefore need to bring nothing for the bath itself.
Infos pratiques
Tips
Book ahead through the form on the official website, by phone or by WhatsApp, giving the package, the time and the number of men and women: the two sections are separate. Cancellations and time changes must be made at least 48 hours in advance, otherwise the deposit is lost; it cannot be transferred to another person or date. Children under 6 are not admitted and 6 to 18-year-olds must come with an adult; the bath is forbidden to pregnant women and not advised for people with heart disease, diabetes or asthma, after drinking alcohol, or on a very full or very empty stomach. Mention any allergies when you arrive. Tipping your attendant is customary but optional: bring cash for it (prices checked in October 2026).
How to get there
Alemdar Mahallesi, Prof. Kazım İsmail Gürkan Caddesi No: 34, 34110 Fatih, Istanbul. Tram T1, Sultanahmet or Gülhane stop, a few minutes' walk away. On foot from Hagia Sophia, heading up towards Cağaloğlu; the women's entrance is on Hamam Street, just around the corner.
Opening hours
Nearby
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