Culture Minister Lina Mendoni inaugurated the project in Thessaloniki to highlight, restore, and preserve the Bey Hamam, also known as the “Baths of Paradise”. This iconic monument in the city’s historic center is part of the Ministry of Culture’s broader strategic program for the protection and promotion of Thessaloniki’s heritage sites.

The Bey Hamam, located on Egnatia Street, is the oldest hamam in Thessaloniki and the largest Ottoman bath complex in Greece, comparable only to similar bath complexes in the capitals of the Ottoman Empire. It was the first public building erected in the city following its definitive conquest by the Ottomans in 1430. According to the dedicatory inscription above the entrance, it was founded in 1444 by Sultan Murad II. For five centuries, it stood at the heart of Thessaloniki’s social and commercial life. After the city was incorporated into the Greek state, it passed into private hands and continued to operate as a bathhouse until 1968. In 1972, it was expropriated by the government and has since been used for exhibitions and cultural events.

The monument is a twin bathhouse, with separate men’s and women’s sections that run parallel to one another without communicating with each other. Each section follows the typical layout of Ottoman baths, with cold, warm, and hot areas, as well as separate auxiliary rooms. In the cold areas, newer interior balconies have been preserved, where changing rooms were once located.

The interior spaces are covered by domes of various sizes, which feature circular openings for natural lighting and ventilation. The monument’s decoration is particularly significant, as sections of relief and stucco decoration survive on the walls and the bases of the domes, dating to the initial phase of its construction in the 15th century. At the same time, the cold and warm rooms of the men’s section and the warm room of the women’s section feature painted decorations from later periods. In the 1930s, a building in the eclectic architectural style was added to the eastern side of the complex to house retail stores.

Bey Hamam has now been restored for the residents and visitors of Thessaloniki and is once again part of the city’s cultural landscape as an important site of historical memory and cultural activities.

The ceremony was attended by the representative of the Metropolitan of Thessaloniki, Philotheos, the Very Reverend Protopresbyter Spyridon Kalaitzoglou; the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis; the Turkish Consul Serkan Gedik, officials from the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and a large crowd.