Vakil Historical Bath
Vakil Bath is located on Taleghani St. and west of Vakil Bazaar. This place is considered one of the attractions of Shiraz and belongs to the Zand dynasty. This bath gets a lot of attention due to its liming and painting. Vakil Bath has now been turned into an anthropological museum and in the past, it was used not only as a place to bathe but also for different ceremonies.
History and Architecture
After Karim Khan chose Shiraz as the capital, he ordered the construction of many buildings in Shiraz, such as the mosque the bazaar, the Hamam, the caravanserai, etc. Vakil Bathhouse is one of his works, which is considered one of the largest baths in Iran with 8660 meters of substructure and 11000 square meters. Rulers after Karim Khan made changes in this bath until the Qajar period when architects used cement mortar to cover some parts of the bathhouse and decorate it. Sarbineh or cloakroom is an octagonal room decorated with arches, columns, and moqrans. On the walls of Sarbineh, there are some paintings of The Sacrifice Of Abraham, The Mi’raj of Prophet Muhammad, etc. These decorations are rooted in the religion and culture of past people. In the cloakroom, there is an octagonal pool that gives a unique view of this place, and there are platforms around it, each one was a place for different groups of people such as normal people, government officials, merchants, and scholars. There are four small ponds in front of these platforms where bathers used to put their feet in cold water when leaving the bathhouse. After the Islamic Revolution, this bathhouse was a restaurant and canteen for tourists for a while but later became an anthropology museum. Today, when you enter Vakil Bathhouse you can see the customs, the way of dressing, and the culture of the people of Shiraz, as well as its stunning architecture. In the roof and the walls of Hamam lime has been used because humidity does not affect on bathhouse. Between Sarbineh and the bathhouse, there is an aisle that does not allow you to suddenly go from a warm place to a cold place. The bathhouse was heated through the narrow passages under its floor and made water steam. This bath has three vaults, each of them for hot, cold, and tepid water. The bathhouse kept heat because of its stone floor and channels. It also has a painting of the moment when Farhad met Shirin, which is related to one of the stories of Nizami Ganjavi. In the past, Vakil Bathhouse was used as a place for ceremonies such as water birthing ceremonies, khastegari, Hanabandan ceremonies, etc. The most spectacular place of Vakil Bathhouse is the place that was used for the Hanabandan ceremony, which is depicted with the statue of women beginning this ceremony.
Visiting Hours
Visiting hours of Vakil Bathhouse are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
