Valide-i Atik Hamamı

Valide-i Atik Hamamı is in the Valide-i Atik neighbourhood of Istanbul's Üsküdar district, in a narrow alley entered from Eski Toptaşı Caddesi. The hammam is part of the Atik Valide Külliyesi (Atik Valide mosque complex), which Nurbanu Sultan, mother of Murad III, commissioned from Mimar Sinan; sources date the construction of the complex to a period stretching from the 1570s to 1583. Although it is not named in the endowment deed, it appears in the tezkires that list Sinan's works, while some sources attribute the building to Sinan's assistant Davud Ağa.
Used as a carpentry workshop for many years, the building was restored in keeping with its original plan in 1985 and reopened as a hammam. As it is a small double hammam (separate women's and men's sections), women and men bathe in separate sections. The hot room has an octagonal navel stone (the heated marble platform) beneath a bright dome, four private cells (halvets) and three iwans; in the women's section the walls of the hot room were later covered with mosaic.
In the classic hammam routine you can sweat on the navel stone and then have a kese (exfoliating scrub) and foam wash. It suits those looking for a simple hammam experience in a building from Sinan's era, and can be combined in the same outing with the Atik Valide Mosque and the other historic buildings around Toptaşı.
According to its Google listing, the hammam is open every day from 07:00 to 22:00. It is a good idea to phone before you go to ask about the women's section hours and the service options.