Bey Hamam

Restored 15th-century Ottoman bathhouse on Egnatia Street

The Bey Hamam — also called the "Baths of Paradise" — is one of the largest and best-preserved Ottoman bath complexes in Greece, built around 1444 by the order of Ishak Bey. It sits directly on Egnatia Street, the ancient Via Egnatia, and was once part of a larger complex of pious foundations that included a mosque and a caravanserai.

The building is a double hamam: a larger men's section and a smaller women's section share the same roof but operate from separate entrances. The architecture is classic Ottoman: a domed central hot room surrounded by smaller domed cells, with oculi of coloured glass filtering the light down through the steam. After decades of disuse it has been partially restored and operates as a functioning bath again; you can also visit just to see the building. The constellation-like pattern of small glass domes in the roof is especially striking from inside.

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