A bathroom is a room in which people wash their bodies or parts thereof. It can contain one or more of the following plumbing fixtures: a shower, a bathtub, a bidet, and a sink. The inclusion of a toilet is common. There are also specific toilet rooms, only containing a toilet, which in North American English tend to be called "bathrooms", "powder rooms" or "washrooms", as euphemisms to conceal their actual purpose, while they in British and Irish English are known as just "toilets" or possibly "cloakrooms" - but also as "lavatories" when they are public.
A hammam, also often called a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model of the Roman thermae. Muslim bathhouses or hammams were historically found across the Middle East, North Africa, al-Andalus, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and in Southeastern Europe under Ottoman rule.
In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome.
Bathing is the immersion of the body, wholly or partially, usually in water, but often in another medium such as hot air. It is most commonly practised as part of personal cleansing, and less frequently for relaxation or as a leisure activity. Cleansing the body may be solely a component of personal hygiene, but is also a spiritual part of some religious rituals. Bathing is also sometimes used medically or therapeutically, as in hydrotherapy, ice baths, or the mud bath.
David UrquhartJr. was a British diplomat, writer and politician, serving as a Member of Parliament for Stafford from 1847 to 1852. He also was an early promoter in the United Kingdom of the hammam which he came across in Morocco and Turkey.
Richard Barter was an Irish physician and proponent of hydropathy. He collaborated with David Urquhart on the introduction of Victorian Turkish baths into the United Kingdom. Barter founded St Ann(e)'s Hydropathic Establishment at St Ann's Hill, located near Cork, in 1844.
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other criteria.
Queen Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of central London. Many of its buildings are associated with medicine, particularly neurology.
The banya is a traditional Russian steam bath that utilizes a wood stove. It is a significant part of Russian culture, and is typically conducted in a small room or building designed for dry or wet heat sessions. The high heat and steam cause bathers to perspire.
The Birmingham Baths Committee was an organisation responsible for the provision and maintenance of public swimming and bathing facilities. Birmingham City Council funded, constructed and ran bathing facilities throughout the city. The movement to develop baths and wash houses in Britain had its impetus with the rapid urbanisation of the Industrial Revolution, which was felt acutely in Birmingham, one of England's powerhouses.
The City Baths, located at 420 Swanston Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, opened in 1904 as public baths, with swimming pools and bathing facilities. Extensively renovated in the early 1980s, it is now considered one of Melbourne's most architecturally and historically significant buildings.
Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. It was one of the most common daily activities and was practiced across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a communal activity. While the extremely wealthy could afford bathing facilities in their homes, private baths were very uncommon, and most people bathed in the communal baths (thermae). In some ways, these resembled modern-day destination spas as there were facilities for a variety of activities from exercising to sunbathing to swimming and massage.
A steam bath is a steam-filled room for the purpose of relaxation and cleansing. It has a long history, going back to Greek and Roman times.
The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure centre in Bethnal Green, London. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an international boxing venue. The main hall also hosts concerts and other live events and other facilities also include a local gymnasium and a swimming pool.
Arlington Baths Club is a non-profit member-run swimming club in Glasgow. The Arlington Baths Club was the first swimming club in Glasgow and is located in a purpose-built Category A Listed Building that opened on 1 August 1871.
The Victorian Turkish bath is a type of bath in which the bather sweats freely in hot dry air, is then washed, often massaged, and has a cold wash or shower. It can also mean, especially when used in the plural, an establishment where such a bath is available.
Lincoln Place is a street in Dublin, Ireland.
Richard Barter was an Irish sculptor and architect.
Achmet Borumborad, Achmet Borumbadad was the assumed name of an eccentric medical con-artist, or quack, operating in late 18th-century Dublin, Ireland. He succeeded in gathering financial support for the construction of a Turkish bath on the banks of the River Liffey in the city. Purportedly a doctor, Borumborad claimed to have been born in Constantinople (Istanbul) from which he had subsequently fled. In reality, he was the fictitious creation of one Patrick Joyce of Kilkenny, or possibly a William Cairns, or Kearns, of Dublin. Adopting the persona of a native Turk, his unusual dress style, turban, and exotic affectations attracted much attention in the city at the time, and he was noted as "the first Turk who had ever walked the streets of Dublin in his native costume."
Sweny's Pharmacy, or F. W. Sweny & Co. Ltd. is a former Victorian-era pharmacy, now a new and used book store, a Joycean cultural centre, hosting daily group readings of Joyce’s work and supporting new aspiring writers, in Dublin, Ireland most notable for appearing in James Joyce's 1922 novel Ulysses. The pharmacy is one of many Joycean landmarks scattered throughout Dublin, and has become a literary tourist attraction, particularly on Bloomsday when fans of Joyce visit the premises to celebrate the book.
