Isfahan has many historical attractions and it is one of the most visited cities in Iran. So far we have introduced many historical places in this city. Now we are to check out the most famous bath in the city, which is the bath of Sheikh Baha'i.
Sheikh Baha'i Bath were built in the Safavi era. The secret of warming it and heating it up makes this public path a mysterious bath with unique features. We would like to talk about Sheikh Baha'i bath in Isfahan which is in a close approximate of Kianpour boutique hotel. This historical house in Isfahan is only 2.2 km away from Sheikh Baha'i public Bath. Tourists can take a walk, rent bicycle, call for a cab or use other types of public transportation in order to get to this monument.
Sheikh Baha'i Hammam (bath)
In the past many public baths were built that were attractive and beautiful in many point such as architecture. The architecture of these baths varied according to the different historical periods and architectural styles of each period, but the baths usually consisted of different parts, so that the main part consisted of three porches, a dressing room, an enclosure and a heater. In most public baths, the access to these spaces was accompanied by interesting designs that gave a striking beauty.
Each space was separated by an octagonal corridor to control the temperature and humidity of each section. With the progress and modernization of life, baths have become out of the ordinary and personalized so that some of them have been transformed into museums, cafes and more as a monument today.
Historic baths are one of the most important tourist attractions in Isfahan. Many tourists visit them while traveling to the historical cities. One of the most beautiful and finest monuments in Iran is the Sheikh Bahai Bath. If you are looking for the most famous historical baths in Isfahan, you need to visit the Sheikh Baha'i Bath. This public bath were built in the Safavi era by Shah Abbas I and commanded by the Sheikh Baha'i in the 10th century.
Sheikh Baha'i, the architect of this building is considered one of the greatest scientists of the Safavi era who had special skills in the sciences of philosophy, logic, and mathematics. He authored about ninety books and treatises. One of the features of Sheikh Baha'i was to know architecture so well that a number of Safavi works were designed by him.
In the Jamaleh neighborhood some other works related to Sheikh Baha'i such as Sheikh Baha'i House and Sheikh Baha'i palace were built in Safavi era. There are house accommodation in Isfahan which is very close to this monuments such as kianpour luxury boutique hotel in Isfahan. This bath has its own branches, and also it has different type of fireplace and tank from usual ones, it has become an interesting and mistrial architectural building.
Sheikh Baha'i Bath has two men's and women's baths. Inside it, there is a swimming pool, several kitchens, and a storage room. It is true that the overall architecture of the bath is similar to other baths in Iran but differs from other baths in which is the type of fire house and water heating method. In fact, what makes this bath special and distinct is its heating system, a unique feature that has shaped many stories and myths about the bath. The laws of physics and chemistry have created a strange heating system for the bath so that the bath water was boiled only by a single flame of a candle, unfortunately the flame is now off.
The secret of Sheikh Baha'i bath was to warm the tank with a candle and to light it permanently. Of course, some of the buildings in Isfahan have mysteries that have been discovered over time. By the middle of the Pahlavi era, bath boiler were active with the flame of the candle, which, of course, is no longer in operation today. Some have attributed to partial destruction of the main body of the bath by mistake during the discovery of the candle’s secret.
There has been a lot of research to find out the secret of bath warming system; in the course of the research, scientists have installed a clay pipe system under the basement, located in the basement area. Earthenware pipeline led scientists to the idea that gases like methane and sulfur oxides were flowing through the natural suction to the bathhouse burner to burn as a source of heat in the burner, perhaps even gases excreted directly from the waste material were used in the bathroom. Archaeological studies show that the sewage pipes of Isfahan city were directed to the bath swage tank. Nowadays in developed countries, the gas which is produced through wastewater is called biogas.
The location of the bath was next to the Jamaleh Isfahan oil extraction site, and this led some to believe that the oil extracted from the bath may have provided the bath fuel. These probabilities were not convincing enough because the most important thing that made the bathroom mysterious was its warming by a flame that has yet to be discovered.
Until an inventor from Mashhad simulated the bath so he could understand the mystery of this puzzle. The result of this inventor's research was that the water source of Sheikh Baha'i baths was made of gold, and that gold was the most conductive metal for heat transfer, and could generate much energy at low temperatures. Gold is a valuable metal, so the secret of this result kept safe in order to keep water source safe from thieves. After simulating the bath, the inventor won two gold medals from Moscow and Switzerland.