Traditional Moroccan Hammam

Here the hammam occupies a central place. It is much more than a public bath. It is at the same time an ancestral tradition, a religious rite, a sanitary necessity, and a social practice…

Also called “Moorish Bath” in reference to the Muslim Spain of Al-Andalus, the history of the hammam draws its origins from the Roman and Greek baths, and developed thanks to the expansion of Islam. in the Maghreb and Middle East countries thanks to the Ottoman Empire.

In all religions, water occupies a central place because of it is associated with purifying rites. Cleanse the body and soul with great water, drive away from the dirt but also the bad thoughts that cling to us throughout the day, to leave lighter, as purified, such is certainly the role of these places dedicated to personal and collective toilet.

In a country where religion occupies an important place, the passage by the public bath conceived as a rite at the same time social and religious remains particularly lively.

The hammam in Morocco remains an important social phenomenon, involving a whole ritual to be followed. Black soap, Kassa, Ghassoul or Clay and essential oils, the Moroccan hammam remains the best known of all, for its benefits for the body. In fact, some hammams in the Gulf countries offer it for brides and their VIP clients.

From a social point of view, the hammams are an unmissable event here. Note, however, that men and women do not meet in the baths since they go to the hammam separately. The places are always arranged so that the opposite sexes do not meet there.

If we go to the family baths, we each take different neighborhoods. And if the premises have only one hammam, women and men go there at different times. The hammam can thus play the role that cafes or gyms can also occupy

The hammam, widely present in the daily life of Moroccans, supports adolescents towards adulthood. At puberty, the young man must go and take a bath with his elders. He thus leaves childhood, gently, surrounded by those who preceded him on this path. It is an opportunity for older people to give him advice and pass on their experience, outside the presence of women.

The hammam served another function, in addition to bathing. In the past, the hammam was considered a place of meeting and sociability. It was between its walls that the inhabitants of the same neighborhood met.

The young girls took the opportunity to admire their small embroidered towels and their beauty, while the older women chose potential wives for their sons. As funny as it sounds, these women had codes for whether a woman was single, married, widowed, or divorced. The family situation varied depending on the color of the towels they used. For men, the hammam was a place to talk about private or political matters.

We can find several hammams in a single district. All categories of society frequented this public place at least once a week, but recently traditional hammams, as our grandmothers and mothers have known them, are starting to disappear.

Tradition also wants her to do the same with her in-laws. To the purification is therefore added the social rite: it is an opportunity to get to know your new family better and for the latter to welcome the future bride in their intimacy.

By entering a traditional Moroccan hammam, it is a little in this history and in all these ancestral traditions that you register ... Welcome to Morocco!

Traditional Moroccan Hammam