Hammam Al-Hajeb

In 1301 a Mamluk governor of Tripoli, Emir Esendemir al-Kurji, built another public bath. The Hammam al-Hajeb was the city’s second oldest bath. It followed the plan of the Izzedin baths and its various chambers had domed roofs with green and blue glass roundels for lighting the interior. An Arab historian tells us: “Esendemir built in this city (Tripoli) a splendid bath; merchants and others who travel here agree that nothing as remarkable has been built in any other country. He also built a mill and ordered the construction of fine houses in this city for his Matnluks where water is brought by pipes; in some, it reaches the top floor of the house and then flows downward to the other floors.”