Old Damascene houses are known for being large and spacious. They typically feature a courtyard for receiving guests, bedrooms, pantries, bright terraces, a kitchen, and a central courtyard with a fountain and citrus trees like citron, bitter orange, and lemon. However, they lacked having a bathroom for bathing inside the house itself! Thus, public bathhouses emerged.
The city of Damascus has been distinguished since ancient times by the abundance of water that reaches all its parts and houses, including the large bathhouses that Damascenes have excelled in decorating and adorning. Despite the abundance of water, baths were not present in homes. Regardless of the size and design of Damascene houses, places to bathe were always outside the home. In every neighborhood, there was a specific public bathhouse for its residents called “the public bathhouse.”
