Vaulted baths are one of the landmarks of Derbent. This is a traditional type of structure for the East. Such baths played a significant role in a Muslim city, being as integral a part of its social life as mosques and bazaars. The bathhouse in the Caucasus, as in the East, served not only for washing but also for strengthening the body, uplifting the spirit, for rest, friendly and business conversations. The women's bath was built in the 15th-17th centuries and is located in the upper part of the city near the "Juma Mosque." The Arabic name is Mesjid Hammam, meaning a bath located near a mosque. It is constructed from rubble masonry, with walls and floors inside made of hewn stone. The structure is partially buried in the ground to reduce heat loss by more than half. It has the classic layout of an eastern bath with cold and hot sections, covered with domes featuring a skylight and numerous auxiliary rooms. The Mesjid Hammam was abandoned for many years, filled with garbage up to the roof, and was known as Hama-damy (bath roof). But in 1788, a city resident named Hadji Muhammad Kerbala Ibrahim-oglu cleared the bath of debris and repaired it. The Juma Mosque began to assert its rights over the bath, appealing to the inscription above the bath entrance: "This bath was endowed by Sultan Bayazid Ben Bahram Ustajlu as a waqf (privileged, tax-exempt property) to the mosque located next to the bath in 1065." The mosque succeeded in reclaiming the bath but did not wrong Hadji Muhammad, reimbursing him for all losses and expenses incurred. The bath operated until 1991 and is currently not in use.
Source:
https://derbentmuseum.ru/monuments/starinnaya-vostochnaya-banya-zhenskaya/
