Makhachkala-Derbent Road, 360600, Republic of Dagestan, Russia, 368600
The Khan's Bathhouse is an architectural monument, presumably built in the 16th–17th centuries, located in the northwestern part of the Naryn-Kala fortress in Derbent.
Vaulted bathhouses are one of Derbent's attractions. "The bathhouse in the Caucasus, as throughout the East," writes Orbeli, "is a matter of special care... Because the bathhouse serves not only for washing but also for strengthening the body, lifting a fallen mood, for rest, for meetings and discussions about buying and selling, and for showing skill in chess and backgammon."
The bathhouses are sunken vaulted-domed structures illuminated from above through special openings in the domes and vaults. The walls, domes, and vaults are made of shell limestone. The bathhouse ceilings represent a well-thought-out design that not only takes into account the complex functional layout but also uses the structural features of the vaults and domes to create an interconnected balanced system. The only eastern facade of the bathhouse, not hidden by the ground, faces the Khan's palace.
Eastern bathhouses operate on the same principle: the furnace was located under the floor, which, heating the water, simultaneously heated the stone floor of the bathhouse. Hot air, supplied through ceramic pipes around the bathhouse, warmed the entire structure. Legend has it that the Khan himself bathed in the Khan's bathhouse on Thursdays, on Fridays forty of his wives from the harem, and on other days — servants and guards. Armed horsemen stood around the bathhouse. A legend has come down to us that if women bathed in the bathhouse and a man dared to look in its direction, one of his eyes would be gouged out. If men bathed there and a woman looked toward the bathhouse, both her eyes would be gouged out. Eastern bathhouses operate on the same principle: the furnace was located under the floor, which, heating the water, simultaneously heated the stone floor of the bathhouse. Hot air, supplied through ceramic pipes around the bathhouse, warmed the entire structure. There is a legend that the high temperature in the bathhouse could be maintained with the help of a single candle. However, the builders left no secret of such energy efficiency. Even scientists studying the fortress have not been able to determine how this was achieved.
Sources:
https://welcomedagestan.ru/placepost/hanskie-bani-v-naryn-kale/
https://derbentmuseum.ru/monuments/banya-hanskaya/
