Unless you are a stridently macho Kiwi bloke, you'll soon feel at ease with the rituals of the Turkish bath house or hamam. Photo / Supplied Peter Calder succumbs to the magic of Istanbul's famous ...

For centuries, hammams were central to Ottoman society, and while they fell out of use in Turkey with the advent of running water, many are being restored to revive an ancient ritual bathing tradition ...

The Turkish bath may date back to the Romans but it was the Ottoman Turks who truly made the tradition their own, adorning their great capital on the Bosphorus with about 15,000 often majestic bath ...