For 582 years, the Bey Hamam has stood at the heart of Thessaloniki. Now, following a €1.5 million restoration, the city’s oldest and largest Ottoman bathhouse is fully open to visitors for the first time in decades.

Founded in 1444 by Sultan Murad II, shortly after the Ottoman conquest, the double bathhouse served men and women in separate wings for five centuries – a space for hygiene, relaxation and social ritual. It closed in 1968, rendered obsolete by modern plumbing.

Restoration teams from the Ephorate of Antiquities removed unauthorized 20th-century additions, uncovering original marble floors, octagonal pools, peripheral seating and elaborate floral frescoes concealed beneath decades of alteration. The women’s quarters (photo) are now accessible for the first time.

Even researchers were surprised: An octagonal marble basin, likely a ceremonial font, was discovered during the works. “The landmark,” said archaeologist Konstantinos Raptis, “connects the past with Thessaloniki’s contemporary cultural life.”