Cifte hammam is a hammam in the Old Bazaar of Skopje

Skopje

Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...

, Macedonia. It was built in the mid-15th century by Isa-Beg Isaković

Isa-Beg Isakovic

Isa-Beg Ishaković, or Isa-Beg Isaković, was an Ottoman general and the first governor of the Ottoman Province of Bosnia. He ruled during the 1450s and 1460s. He made much of the initial conquests for the Turkish Empire in the region, and was one of the then Sultan's most trusted generals. He was...

 in order to provide a regular source of income for his endowment.

Etymology

Name of the hammam is derived from the Turkish

Turkish language

Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...

 word çift meaning "two" or "couple" as the building consists of two main parts.

Characteristics

Male and female dressing rooms are apart with a joint bath area. Today it is not operational and houses part of the exhibition of the National Gallery of Macedonia whose head office is in the Daut Paşa Hammam. There were three separate rooms with high temperature, of which one was constructed with a pool for ritual bath of the Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

in Skopje.

External links

• Text about Cifte hammam on web site about Old Skopje