Palace Bath, Shirvanshah

Palace Bath in Shirvanshah Palace Complex 

The palace bath was found in 1939 on the lowermost terrace of the complex. The archeologists dug out a big 26-room underground bath. One group of rooms was intended for undressing, the other for bathing. The underground bath was very convenient: there were no drafts and it was warm in there.

So how did they work, those medieval baths? It was as follows: the water from a reservoir went to a boiler-house and further was distributed via ceramic pipes. The water reservoir was fed from underground springs.

Separate reservoirs with cold and hot water adjoined the bathing rooms. Under the hot water reservoir a special fire-chamber was built. Heating went through steam ducts under the floor of the bathing rooms.
Small orbicular pools and niches for footwear were found in the bathing rooms. The walls of the bath were richly decorated with ornamental majolica.

Long time ago the bath was not only a place of ablution but also for traditional communication, bargaining, meeting friends. There are more medieval baths in the old sector of the city. Some of them are still working.