Çarşı Baths (Arapgir)

The Çarşı Baths (Market Baths) of Arapgir are a historic Ottoman hammam in Arapgir District of Malatya Province in eastern Anatolia, in a remote mountain town above the upper Euphrates valley renowned for its distinctive wine grapes — the Arapgir üzümü is among the most prized table and dried grape varieties of the eastern Anatolian highlands. The Çarşı Baths served the commercial quarter of Arapgir's weekly market, where merchants and craftsmen gathered to trade the agricultural products of surrounding mountain villages, and the hammam provided the essential bathing service that kept traders and market visitors clean before and after the commercial activity of market day. The baths reflect the Ottoman tradition of positioning hammams near market quarters, recognising that hygiene and commerce were mutually reinforcing in a well-functioning provincial town.