What a hammam actually is
A traditional steam bath, descended from Roman thermae and refined under the Ottomans. Three rooms — warm, hot, very hot — where you sweat, get scrubbed by a professional with a coarse glove (the famous 'kessa' or 'kis') using black soap (savon noir), get massaged with olive oil, then collapse on a cushion in a relaxation room with mint tea.
The transformation is real: skin you didn't know existed, an hour of profound calm, and a kind of bone-deep tiredness that turns into the best night's sleep of your trip.
