Desirable alien (1)
The Ottoman architects of Turkey, famous the world over for vast domed mosques covered in polychrome tiles, were also masters of small buildings. Little pavilions and kiosks, intricately carved tombs, structures sheltering fountains – all, in years gone by, have been given the kind of ornate treatment that in Europe is more often reserved for a place of worship or for the most exclusive of shops.
It’s a wonderful shock, therefore, to come across this tiny late-19th century Turkish pavilion in a paved courtyard in the City. It began life as part of a Turkish bath with a design that wonderfully put the fashion of the time for tile and terracotta decoration to a use foreign to London but apt for the building’s purpose. Thanks to committed supporters, the structure has survived against all the odds, in the face of changing bathing tastes, the Blitz, and office developers. It now forms one of the most memorable settings for a restaurant in central London.
Almost completely hemmed in by the glass-and-steel modernism of the late-20th century, this Turkish pavilion is a brilliant and welcome blast from the past. Thanks to colourful tiles, ornate terracotta, and stained-glass windows, it more than holds its own in its rather bleak setting, and is clearly something of an oasis – it was full of City gents getting outside a morning coffee when I passed by.
There are more photographs of this wonderful little building in More London Peculiars by Peter Ashley, of Unmitigated England.
I have a 'tin' post up in your honour at the moment. Not the greatest of pics but American spreads are so large that getting close can be difficult.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the kind plug Wilko. This really is an extraordinary survivor.
ReplyDeleteYou;re welcome, Peter. Did I introduce you to this building - or did you introduce me? I can't remember.
ReplyDeleteI can't remember either, but I certainly would've gone on about it.
ReplyDeleteYou think you know your own city,then something like this turns up.I've got to hunt this one down!I think its wonderful,and it sits well against its background of modernist structures.
ReplyDelete".. tiny late-19th century Turkish pavilion in a paved courtyard in the City". Was it built in the open? Was it built for ex-pat Muslims in particular? Did residents and workers roll up, take their clothes off and get into the bath?
ReplyDeleteI love that someone had the courage to create a bit of exotica in the centre of town :) I also love the idea that it has improbably survived till today.
Sorry, Hels. When I wrote 'in a paved courtyard' I meant that the building is set in a courtyard, not that the bath itself was in the open air. The main bath was below ground level, so this what we can see now is a kind of entrance building. I don't think it was built specifically for Muslims (though I have no proof of this). In this period there were still plenty of households with no bathroom, so many people went regularly to public baths. Most of these had simple tubs, but now and then there was a Turkish one.
ReplyDelete