Hammam al-Qarmani

A block of stone in Souq Sarouja with modern flats closing in around it. The bath no longer works, but the domes are still there and the glass eyes set into them are in place: those discs were the only way light got inside. The ground next to it is now called the Qarmani Garden, and that is where you see the building from.

Getting there

The passage into the quarter from the south-east, by way of Bab al-Agha, is known as Zuqaq al-Qarmani — it takes its name from this bath. Walk north out of the walled city into Souq Sarouja; the hammam stands at the edge of the quarter’s garden.

What you can see today

From outside, a stone wall and three domes. The holes across the domes are not decoration: each one is a sealed glass eye, and the shafts of light that fell into the hot room came through them. Since it no longer works as a bath the interior is not open, and whether you can get inside has to be checked on the spot.

The four baths of Souq Sarouja

Four bath houses were counted in this quarter in the 15th century: Ward, Jawza, Khanji and Qarmani. This is the one still standing, and the one that left its name on a lane. The others survive in quarter names and in records.

Don’t miss

The garden lighting in the evening. When the domes are washed from below the glass eyes come out one by one and the plan of the building can be read from outside: cold room, warm room, hot room. By day the same wall looks like ordinary rubble.