THE TURKISH BATH – BANYA

A city is perfect only, when there is a bath in it” – said Abu Sir, one of the first Arabic historians.

And indeed – making baths was so important in the past, that it was recommended if someone has a sin, to build a bath and his sin will be forgiven. Thus – with a donation of a wealthy Turkish family the Turkish bath in the village of Banya was built, it was known as “Murtina bath”. The bath is typical for the Ottoman public baths on the Balkans, built in the period 15-20 century. It is believed that it has been built in the 17th century because of the similar architecture with the Old Bulgarian bath.

The Turkish bath is built with 2 entrances because the Turks have a belief that one should go inside the bath with the left foot through the left door before taking a bath, and after that – went out through the right one. For the warm waters of the Turkish bath, they used “Blagata voda” (the Sweet water) with temperature of 54 degrees. The mineral water was mixed with the cold water from the river that directly flowed under the bath. Christians were not allowed in the bath.

The site was renovated under the project “Adaptation of the cultural and historical heritage monuments for development of tourism in the municipality of Razlog” financed under Operational Program “Regional Development 2007-2013.

Additional information
Services: A guided tour in the village of Banya.

Individual visits:
1. Visiting of 1 site: adults – 3 BGN; students, retiree – 2 BGN. Tour guide /up to 10 people/ – 3 BGN
2. Route Ticket (2 sites): adults – 5 BGN; students, retiree – 3 BGN. Tour guide /up to 10 people/ – 5 BGN
3. Route Ticket (3 sites): adults – 6 BGN; students, retiree – 4 BGN. Tour guide /up to 10 people/ – 5 BGN

Group visits: 
1. Visiting of 1 site: adults – 2 BGN; students, retiree – 1 BGN. Tour guide /up to 10 people/ – 3 BGN
2. Route Ticket (2 sites): adults – 4 BGN; students, retiree – 1,50 BGN. Tour guide /up to 10 people/ – 5 BGN
3. Route Ticket (3 sites): adults – 5 BGN; students, retiree – 2 BGN. Tour guide /up to 10 people/ – 5 BGN

Children up to 7 years old and people with disabilities – free.

Note: Source: http://destinationrazlog.com/index.php/bg/

Neighboring sites:
The old Bulgarian (Roman) bath
“Sveti Velikomachenik Georgi Pobedonosets” Church
Ethnographic-Historical Museum in the village of Banya