[ad_1]
By Palestine Chronicle Workers
Hamam Al-Samra, or the Samra Bathtub, is among the major, and few remaining, Ottoman architectural websites in Gaza. Although it has been round for a whole bunch of years, it’s nonetheless operational.
The Palestine Chronicle joined Gazan artisans and employees as they spent the day repairing the place with the hope of reopening Gaza’s well-known public tub within the close to future.
The etymology of the title is just not fully sure. Some historians imagine that ‘Samra’ is in reference to the Samaritans, an historic Gaza group that lived in that area till the late sixteenth century. The title Samra, nevertheless, can also be a reference to one thing that’s darkish or brown. So, the title might additionally imply the ‘brown tub’.
The tub consists of a number of rooms, every with a unique temperature, scorching, heat, and chilly. It’s managed by Haj Salim Abdullah al-Wazeer.
The proprietor of the tub supplied The Palestine Chronicle a unique historic narrative on when Hamam al-Samra was first established. “The tub is at the very least a thousand years outdated,” al-Wazeer instructed us. Although the precise date can’t be verified, al-Wazeer stated that there’s a wall carving on the entrance of the tub, which dates a significant total of the location to the start of the Mamlouk period, particularly to the years 685 within the Islamic Calendar, that means over 750 years in the past.
“The tub is split into varied sections, beginning with the underground hearth, which is invisible to purchasers,” al-Wazeer stated. “The hearth continues to be fueled by wooden, as it’s the most secure type of gas obtainable in Gaza. The smoke is channeled by a 15-meter excessive chimney.”
“The second part is the remainder space. That’s the place purchasers are in a position to sit close to a pool, coated by the one dome of its form in Gaza, the checkered dome, which permits the doorway of the solar however in some way shields these inside from the rain above. That is essentially the most stunning a part of the tub.”
“One other part is the place the steam reaches as much as 55 levels Celsius,” al-Wazeer continued. “Our clients are of various ages and lessons. The wealthy and the poor, the younger and the outdated, all work together right here. There are additionally sections the place purchasers, who typically endure from medical points and joint issues, obtain massages.”
Al-Wazeer defined to The Palestine Chronicle the well being advantages of his historic tub:
“These are the advantages of the tub,” he stated:
– it opens up the pores,
– it stretches the joints and relaxes the physique;
– it reduces tensions;
– it hurries up blood circulation and subsequently strengthens the cognitive talents of the mind;
– it helps with again issues and spinal points;
-It helps rheumatism sufferers;
– It prompts elements of the physique accountable for controlling toxins;
– It strengthens the immune system.
We requested al-Wazeer what number of occasions up to now has this tub been repaired. “Not less than 4 occasions. Presumably, the primary time was over 750 years in the past. Then, it was repaired once more within the Nineteen Seventies, and I took half within the rebuilding of the tub then. It was additionally restored in 2001 by a grant by the United Nations Growth Program (UNDP), managed by the Islamic College of Gaza.”
In accordance with al-Wazeer, the present repairs observe the newest strategies utilized in repairing historic websites. He guarantees that the Hamam “goes to reemerge as stunning because it was when it was first constructed a thousand years in the past.”
(All Pictures: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)
[ad_2]
Source link
