Ganj Ali Khan Bathhouse

Ganj Ali Khan Bathhouse

By: Azita Rajabi

This building is a part of the Ganj Ali Khan complex in the Kerman Bazaar and was built on the order of Ganj Ali Khan, the ruler of Kerman of the time - on behalf of Shah Abbas I of the Safavid Dynasty - between the years 1005 to 1034 AH/1596 to 1624 AD. This bathhouse is 46 meters long and 30 meters wide and has an area of 1380 square meters and consists of the following components: entrance, porch, changing or disrobing room, “garmkhaneh” or the main bathing area, and its related spaces.

This building has been masterfully designed and constructed and its decorations include tilework, painting, carving, karbandi (stuccos), and arches, etc., which have given it a special identity and uniqueness.

The entrance to the bathhouse is located on its northern side and leads to the disrobing hall through a small porch. The disrobing hall of this complex is designed in the form of a large octagon, which is 10 meters long, 7.5 meters wide, and covers an area of 75 square meters and each side of it was made with special pavilions or platforms where different social classes would change before going for their bath. Of course, in addition to the pavilions, these platforms had enough space for people to sit and have tea and even smoke a hookah. The disrobing room is divided into six pavilions. The “Azareh” or dados of the pavilions are also tiled to a height of about 130 cm. The surfaces of the inner walls and the arch and dome of the disrobing hall are decorated with plaster works, painting, karbandi, and muqarnas. Some of these decorations had been destroyed and have been repaired and restored.

The floor of the disrobing hall and part of its dados have been fully covered with exquisite marble stones and have been decorated with some beautiful ponds made in its center.

The light of the disrobing hall is provided through a number of openings in the ceiling, which were covered with transparent and thin marble stones in the past. The disrobing hall leads to the hot room or the main bathing hall through a gate located to the south of it.

The “garmkhaneh” or the main bathing area of the bathhouse had many and varied spaces, including a public bathing area, private bathrooms for the rich, hot and cold, and lukewarm water reservoirs, a swimming pool, and a private room for certain noble people. The length of the garmkhaneh is 6.25 meters and its width is six meters and it has an area of 37.5 square meters. The garmkhaneh consists of a cold water pool with a tent-like arch and eight beautiful monolithic stone columns. The main bathing hall is octagonal in shape and its arch and dome cover are supported by these eight columns. The floor and parts of the dado and ponds of this part are completely covered with marble stones and other parts of the main bathing hall have decorations similar to the disrobing hall; especially in their walls and arches. All the corners of the bathhouse have been decorated with water fountains. A single piece of stone with a thickness of 10 cm transfers the outside light into the bathhouse and in this way, people who were inside the bathhouse could guess the time. In fact, this stone is a stone sundial.

Sources

-  Mollazadeh, Kazem and Maryam Mohammadi, Encyclopedia of Historical Monuments of Iran in Islamic Periods, Vol. 4, Islamic Culture and Art Researches, 2000

- Ministry of Culture and Art, The Museum of Herman Bathhouse, 1972

- Shamlou, Ghalamali, The Bathhouse of Ganj Ali Khan, Talash Periodical, No. 29, 1971

- Pirnia, Mohammad Karim, The Styles of Iranian Architecture, Bonyad Publications, 1990

- Sho’ai, Mojtaba, An Introduction to Ganj Ali Khan Bathhouse, Za’ir Periodical, No. 8, Astan Quds Razavi, 1995

- Zangiabadi, Ali, The Geography and Planning of the Kerman City, The Center of Kerman Studies, 1991