Firuz Agha and his hammam in Smederevo

Abstract

This paper deals with the hammam in the Smederevo fortress, erected by Firuz Agha, the head of the Sultan’s treasury, between 1485 and 1490. Using Ottoman sources, the authors are able to determine the time of construction, the method of work and the role that this public bath played for Smederevo’s inhabitants. The hammam was very important for the functioning of the great Firuz’s waqf, which included numerous buildings in the Balkans and Anatolia. Based on data on the waqf’s revenue, it may be concluded that until the mid-16th century the hammam in the Smederevo fortress was one of the most profitable facilities of its kind in the Ottoman Empire. Over a quarter of a century, Firuz, as the court agha and later as the sanjak-bey, constructed another three hammams in Tokat, Sivas and Sarajevo, which help us discern patterns and changes in the manner of construction. Based on this knowledge and information about the appearance and manner of functioning of the numerous hammams built in the second half of the 15th and the first half of the 16th century, the authors present the presumed disposition of the rooms of the public bath in the Smederevo fortress. In the female section, the rooms can be determined with great certainty, while three possible types, based on the shape and dimensions, are offered for the hot part of the male section of the hammam. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 177030: From Universal Empires to National States. Social and Political Changes in Serbia and the Balkans and Grant no. 177029: Medieval Serbian Lands (13-15th Centuries): Political, Economic, Social and Legal Processes]

Keywords

• Smederevo
• Firuz Agha
• hammam
• waterworks
• waqf
• Bayezid II
• Tokat
• Sarajevo
• sanjak-bey