Great Hamam of Pristina

The Great Hammam of Pristina (Albanian: Hamami i madh i Prishtinës, Turkish: Fatih Sultan Mehmet Han Hamamı, Serbian: Велики хамам у Приштини / Veliki hamam u Prištini) is one of the few Ottoman era monuments in Pristina, Kosovo[a]. Hamams are also known as Turkish baths. It was built in the 15th century and was part of the Imperial Mosque (Pristina). During the months of summer and spring, it was used as a meeting place. Considered to be one of the most important buildings of the cultural and historical heritage, the Great Hamam of Pristina was in poor condition through the years until its approval of restoration.

The Great Hamam of Prishina
Hamami i Madh i Prishtinës
Coordinates42°40′0″N 21°9′59″E
LocationPristina
DesignerSultan Mehmet Fatih
TypeA double hamam
Completion date15th century
The great hamam of Prishtina is 800 m2 (8,600 sq ft)

The Hamam is currently under restoration and it is planned to become the museum of Pristina.[1][2][3][4] The building of hamam is owned by the Municipality of Pristina and is under the protection of the Republic of Kosovo. It is part of the cultural heritage with the decision of the Minister Memli Krasniqi of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, since October 2012.[1][4] But, before that the Kosovo War, in 1985 the hamam was considered a protected monument by the law "Protection of the Monument" number 19/77, according to the architect Nol Binakaj.[5] According to him, even though the hamam is different a lot from the original version, only the east part of the building and the main face of the building have been changed. The rest of the building has remained the same.[5] It is a symbol of the old Pristina, together with the Clock Tower, Çarshia Mosque, Academy building, Fatih Mosque and others.[6]

Origin

The Great Hamam of Pristina was built in the second half of the 15th century and it was one of the first Ottoman objects to be built in the Republic of Kosovo. It is known as a part of the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Mosque, named after Mehmed the Conqueror. The hamam was visited by residents of Pristina as a place to meet and socialize for many generations, until the 1970s.[2][7] or the 1960s according to the architect Nol Binakaj from the Housing Development and Management-Lund University.[5] According to the legend, the builders who were part of the constructions were obliged by Sultan Mehmet al-Fatih to wash themselves in the Hamam, twice a day.[7]

Architecture

The Great Hamam of Pristina is considered as a double hamam, because it has separate sections for men and women. It is approximately 800 m2 and has a quadrant shape. It has both a hot room and a cold room. The hot room has 16 domes, each containing 15 holes.[8] On one of the domes the middle hole is in the shape of either the Star of David or the shape of a regular pentagram. The use of these holes is that the hamam inside could be enlightened.[8] The other use of the holes is to keep the hamam warm. The "hot section" of the hamam, includes the so-called "baths of the hamam". This room was heated with steam from hypocausts. The hypocausts were under the floor, which was marble. The building's walls are made of stone, on the other hand the domes are made of bricks and were covered with bad sheets. The interior, however, was plastered with a traditional mortar called "horasan." The "horasan" is known to be resistant to humidity. This building, in general, has regular shaped stones, which are carved in their corners and are linked with lime mortar. For the "cold part" was known that it was covered by four domes, but no sign of this kind of construction was found. The great hamam of Pristina has the entrance hall, middle warm area, main warm area or otherwise known as the massage rooms etc.[5]

Damage through the years

After the building was abandoned, the hamam has undergone renovations several times. The installation of the new water supply and sewage system, without any criteria have resulted in the loss of precious built details, and the building structure was weakened. Even though the hamam's building is one of the oldest Ottoman buildings in Pristina, there has not been any maintenance, since 1989.[9] The building was used only for keeping the construction materials.[5] Three shops were opened in front of the building in 1994.[7] The shops and the eastern part of the building were soon set on fire, in 1995.[5] According to the European Stability Initiative, the hamam needs protection from the black water. The walls are destroyed from this factor and other factors like time and improper constructions.[7] Not until in April 2007, the Municipality of Pristina decided to do its restoration intermittently.[1]

Restoration

Because, of these damages the "Parliament of the Municipality of Pristina" in collaboration with the Swedish company CHWB decided to start hamam's restoration in 2006. They formed a project's board, which had members from the "Municipality of Pristina", CHWB, the "Faculty of Architecture" of University of Pristina and "Kosova Council for the Cultural Heritage." The restoration was planned to have three phases of work. The first phase was about cleaning the object from litter and earlier interventions, the removal of new walls and it ended in 2008. The restoration's project was financed by CHWB and its restoration was done by a CHWB's team, which are specialists on the restoration of the historical monuments field and by a team or board from the "Municipality of Pristina". The second phase of the restoration's goal was to rebuild the domes, to strengthen the structure of half of the building and the consolidation of the hamam.[10] This phase is known to have lasted from 2009 to 2010 and it was financed by CHWB and by a Turkish team of experts "Sida", which was under the supervision of Zenep Ahunbay. They managed to make a plan about the restoration of the hamam and every single detail was examined and re-examined by the Project's Board for two years. The final draft of the project was accepted by the Project's Board in January 2009. It is known that in 2009, the "Municipality of Pristina" has given 300.000 Euro for the restoration of the great hamam of Pristina.[11] The third phase's goal was the restoration of the object and the installation of electricity. A company was chosen by tender by the "Municipality of Pristina" to run the project accepted by the Project's Board.They started working from 2012. But, with the realization of these three phases, there have been some deviations from the restoration's plan, according to the "Kosova Council for the Cultural Heritage" and CHWB. They said that the company, which was chosen, has no experience in restoration of monuments at all. The installation of electricity was destroying the original masonry of the object. The materials chosen for the restoration of the hamam were completely improper for a restoration and the monument is deeply endangered by the atmospheric waters, which is weakening further the structure of the monument. Old Ottoman things found in this monument were not treated properly. This company was making irreversible changes to the object and the historic details of the hamam were being lost. CHWB warned the "Municipality of Pristina" and the "Kosova Council for the Cultural Heritage" to disengage the contract made with the company chosen for restoration. They said that, if the "Municipality of Pristina" didn't do what it was included in the project, they would withdraw from the cooperation with the "Municipality of Pristina".[1] With the request of CHWB and the "Kosova Council for the Cultural Heritage", the "Ministry of Culture,Youth and Sports" ordered that the restoration of the great hamam of Pristina to be discontinued on 07.02.2013.[4] According to Top Channel, the hamam is currently under restoration with the decision of the "Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports".[3][12]

See also

Notes
a.   ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 98 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 113 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.

References
  1. "Republic of Kosovo : Minister of Culture" (PDF). Mem.rks-gov.net. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  2. 6 min (2013-03-18). "Gjashtë Vjet Punë S'e Kthejnë Hamamin - Raporto Korrupsionin! KALLXO.com". Gazetajnk.com. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  3. "Hamami i Prishtinës po restaurohet, shumë shkelje (video)". Koha.net. Archived from the original on 2014-10-20. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  4. "Republic of Kosovo : Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports" (PDF). Mkrs-ks.org. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  5. "The Great Hammam in Prishtina : Conservation, Restoration and Re-Functionalizing Project" (PDF). Hdm.lth.se. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Nje e ardhme per te kaluaren e Prishtines" (PDF). Esiweb.org. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  8. "Republic of Kosovo : Grand Tour" (PDF). Altaviatravel.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 2, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 31, 2014. Retrieved February 28, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. "Impact Assessment - Kosovo" (PDF). Coe.int. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  12. "Hamami i PrishtinĂŤs - Lajme - Top Channel". Top-channel.tv. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
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