LA LEVANTINE, Peshtemals and the Turkish Bath In time it became an institution of it's own, with its system of ineradicable customs. Tropez and Cannes.
The tradition of the Turkish bath extends back to a time before Turks had reached what is called the area of Anatolia. As the Turks arrived in Anatolia, they were confronted with another bathing tradition, that of Romans and Byzantines, with certain local variants. The traditions developed, and with the addition of the Moslem concern for cleanliness and its concomitant respect for the uses of wate
r, an entirely new concept, that of the Turkish Bath arose. For the Turkish bath was a lot more than just a place to clean the skin. It was intimately bound up with daily life, known as a place where people of every rank and station, young and old, rich an poor, townsman or villager, could come. Women as well as men made use of the "hamam", as the bath is named in Turkish, although of course at separate hours. The hamam was a familiar place from the earliest weeks of life right up to its very end. Important occasions were, and in some township still are, celebrated with rejoicing at the bath. The brides bathing complete with food and live music for example. Naturally, there was a range of equipment associated with a hamam visit. The "pestemal" [pesh-te-mahl], a large towel fringed at both ends and wrapped around the torso, from below the armpits to about mid-thigh, could be mentioned as the most important utensil. This woven cloth is used to cover the body in the hammam. At the same time, it is the traditional Turkish towel. From the historic Turkish hammam era to the present it has reached a history of nearly six hundred years in the area of Anatolia. Turkish pestemal is a handicraft. Throughout history this towel was produced by weaving on hand looms. Nowadays, it's woven on advanced looms, because of the widespread use of electricity. Pestemal is also traditional clothes that used by all persons, old or young, especially, in the Black Sea region. Pestemal has got a rich color harmony. In former times colors represented the inhabited region of the person who was wearing it. However, pestemal is usually woven by linen yarn or cotton yarn. Nowadays, a pestemal is still used as a bath towel in Turkish hammams but it's also used as a bathrobe at beaches and in saunas. Women wrap the pestemal from the armpit and men wrap from the waist. The Pestemal is preferred especially during travels because of being thin and light and also very easy to dry. No need to mention that a pestemal is absorptive as terrycloth. Pestemal slowly but surely starts to become the trend of recent times. Meanwhile the Pestemal is used on the world-famous beaches such as St. In these days a lot of celebrities are seen with pestemal on the beaches. Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore, Robert De Niro, Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates are just a few of the celebs who use this comfortable utensil. (Our products are not factory-made. All pestemals are produced by traditional methods in a respectful manner to its origin.)
