Çifte Baths (Soma)

The Çifte Baths of Soma are a double-chambered Ottoman hammam in Soma District, Manisa Province in the Aegean hinterland of western Turkey. Soma is an important mining and agricultural town whose hammam tradition reflects the Ottoman investment in public hygiene and community infrastructure across the economically productive lowlands of the Gediz River valley. The çifte design with separate sections for men and women allowed the hammam to serve the full community simultaneously in line with the social norms of Islamic bathing culture.