South of the Black Chamber lie the ruins of a 14th-century bathhouse — the White Chamber. The development of urban life required the construction of public facilities such as caravanserais and bathhouses.
Since ancient times, baths in the East have been a subject of special attention as a means of achieving cleanliness and tidiness, which, as virtues, were sanctified by customs and religion.
The bathhouse consisted of a changing room, a room with a cold bath or pool, a warm washing room, and utility rooms. Often, bathhouses were divided into two sections — male and female. Next to the common-use area, there were also separate rooms with baths and fountains. Sometimes, the hall in the bathhouse served as a place for rest, conversations, meetings, and even performances by orators, actors, and singers. Frequently, bathhouses were venues for public and political gatherings, where, like in unique clubs, public opinion and mood were formed, and socio-political education was provided. The bathhouse had an underground heating system, water supply, and sewage system.
For women, bathhouses were the only places where they could meet and spend time without interference. They often rented bathhouses for an entire day, held small parties, sang, danced, and spent time chatting.
The building was constructed in the 1340s. The walls are made of white stone — limestone with facing of squared blocks on the exterior side, rubble filling inside the masonry, and ordinary rubble masonry with lime plaster on the interior wall surfaces. The northern part of the building (the anteroom) was built of brick. The building consists of several rectangular volumes of different sizes. The dimensions in plan are 33 by 17 meters. This was one of the public bathhouses in the city.
The White Chamber is an example of Bulgarian buildings of the 14th century, built in the style of Eastern baths, common in the Middle Ages in Central Asia, Crimea, and the Caucasus; it testifies to the well-developed construction techniques of the Bulgars and the high level of urban amenities.
An 18th-century drawing made by Pallas has been preserved.
It documents the White Chamber not only in text but also in drawings and plans: it includes the "foundation plan" and a "building section." To this day, only the foundation and underground rooms of the White Chamber have survived, so Pallas’s descriptions, drawings, and plans are of exceptional value. At that time, the walls still stood, and the domed ceiling was relatively well preserved. Later, in the first half of the 19th century, the White Chamber was drawn by Durand and the Chernetsov brothers.
There is a study of the White Chamber by Shishkin, which is exhibited in the exhibition hall of the Bulgarian Reserve.
Sources:
https://xn--80ad7bbk5c.xn--p1ai/ru/content/petr-simon-pallas-1741-1811
https://yanarysh.tatarstan.ru/whitechamber.htm
