Tarihi Ilgaz Hamamı

Tarihi Ilgaz Hamamı is on Han Sokak in the Yeni Mahalle neighbourhood of central Ilgaz, a district of Çankırı. There is no official record of when it was built, but according to municipal sources the hammam is thought to date from the late Ottoman period, at the end of the 19th century. Registered as a cultural asset in 1996, the building served for many years under the name 'Belediye Hamamı' (Municipal Hammam).
The cross-plan hammam has four iwans and four domed halvets (small private hot rooms). A navel stone (the heated marble platform) stands at the centre of the domed hot room, the walls are clad in marble up to a certain height, and six elephant-eye skylights (small glass lights in the vault) above the warm room let in daylight. The changing area, by contrast, is a two-storey reinforced-concrete structure.
Ilgaz Municipality took over the hammam in 2019 when it was lying idle; in a restoration launched in 2021 together with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the marble, heating and electrical systems were renewed and natural gas replaced solid-fuel heating. After the restoration, the building of about 500 square metres stayed closed for a while because no operator could be found; it was handed over to its new operator through a tender in September 2024 and reopened with a ceremony.
According to its Google listing, the hammam is open every day from 08.00 until 02.00. As there is no up-to-date official announcement on separate days or hours for women and men or on the services offered, it is advisable to phone before going. It is an easily reached address in the district centre for travellers passing through Ilgaz and for anyone who wants to bathe in a restored Ottoman hammam.