HISTORY YOU NEVER KNEW!
How the Ottoman Empire and a fumbling politician gave birth to the modern spa!
The year is 1837 and English diplomat and sometime Member of Parliament David Urquhart was being forcibly recalled to Great Britain in disgrace.
After being appointed secretary of the British Embassy in Constantinople,
Urquhart, who had developed an obsessive love for Turkish culture decided upon his return to England that he would quietly bow out of the political spotlight for a while to let things blow over...and at the same time develop a new business to promote Turkish baths in London.
London at this point in history had become dangerously overcrowded, dirty and in the midst of a public health crisis. Urquhart saw an opportunity for the unique concept of a Turkish bath to offer a place for cleansing, healing, and the beauty he appreciated in his Turkish friends. He needed two things: the "buzz" to get clients in the door...and a financial backer.
Urquhart penned a book to popularize Turkish culture and published it in 1850, the healing, beauty and cleansing rituals capturing the attention of Irish physician Richard Barter. The first Turkish Bath, precursor to the modern spa opened in London at 76 Jermyn Street in July of 1860 and featured the first hydrotherapy treatments and facials!
Over the next 150 years, over 600 Turkish Baths operated in Great Britain before an evolving model for the modern spa eclipsed its predecessor. By the time this lost footage was shot in 1953, the Turkish Baths were attempting to diversify to compete...and this Parisian invention (the predecessor to the tanning bed), used UV light and steam as part of their detoxifying and cleansing treatment.
Today, there are only 12 Victorian Age Turkish Spas left in the world...but the legacy of introducing spa therapy to the Western World and giving birth to the spa movement is their lasting legacy.