Invisible to institutions, unknown to citizens – the former Turkish bath in Struga is falling apart

Once the most visited object, symbol of the city, and today left to the "tooth" of time, lost in the institutional maze – the Turkish hammam "Mustafa Celebi" in Struga is still fighting for its revitalization and presentation to the public.

The former hammam, which means bath in Turkish, where men and women of all nationalities went to enjoy their leisure time, due to tangled property-legal relations, it has been left to the "tooth" of time and is waiting for the institutions to find a way for its restoration.

This facility, which is under the protection of the Institute and Museum – Ohrid, was handed over to the possession of the Islamic religious community in Struga, from where they inform that they recently bought the yard, which was once like this, but the state gave it to a private person, which then sold it to a third owner. The Mufti of Struga is starting to untangle the web in which this monumental building is trapped.

– Property-legal relations are now in the process of being resolved, that is, transfer of ownership to the Islamic religious community. The yard, which was a house used by the man who maintained the bath, and he sold it to a third party, was also cleaned in cooperation with the Institute and Museum – Ohrid and donors will make a project for the restoration of the hammam, clarifies for MIA Jakup Qazimoski from the Mufti of Struga at IVZ.

He hopes that funds will be found soon and the Turkish bath in Struga will once again be at the service of all citizens, but also a tourist attraction in the city.

– Our wish and goal is to restore the hammam and make it functional for all citizens. We want it to be open to the public, and if the conditions allow, they would make it serve the population again as a hammam, says Qazimoski.

A few years ago, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency -TIKA wanted to intervene, but due to unresolved property-legal relations, they did not have access to the building.

The facility is in very poor condition

In the heart of Struga, just a few meters from the bazaar, the hammam in a very bad condition shows the bad image of the city, but also of the state for the neglect of cultural heritage. Although it has long been declared a monument of culture, he is unknown to the locals and visitors, and he was almost invisible, hidden among objects.

Ohrid Institute and Museum, under whose protection is the object of 2005 year, is aware of its poor and ruined condition.

Tanya Pascali Buntasheska, architect at Institute and Museum – Ohrid, says that the institution did not have access to make appropriate documentation, but after the takeover by IVZ, some of the illegal constructions were also removed.

– We as an institution will turn to the National Conservation Center to provide us with all the documentation they have about the hammam., so based on that let's see what he owns, we would also make new documentation and a revaluation report with a regime. The development of conservation projects and conservation of the hammam continues, says Pascali Buntasheska for MIA.

Active until half a century ago, about five centuries old

Regarding the age of the building, MIA failed to obtain accurate data from the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, where the entire documentation is located.

The information they have at the Mufti of Struga is that the hammam was built together with the mosque, which is located in its immediate vicinity, and she is old approx 500 years.

– According to tradition, citizens went at least once a week to the hammam for bathing, because in Islam a person must bathe at least once a week. There are older people from Struga who say that as children they went to bathe in the hammam, so then they went to the mosque. According to that, it is assumed that the bath was functional until before 60-70 years, narrates Qazimoski.

There was almost no access to the building due to usurpation of the space from all sides. Now with the redemption of the yard, that is, the house that has been demolished, a path opens to the entrance, although there was also an entrance from the opposite side, now there is no access due to built houses.

The dilapidated building, which attracts the eyes of passers-by consisted of three or four large rooms, which served for bathing, as well as other accompanying rooms for the needs of the users, which silently bear witness to what once existed here. The professional reconstruction will give an accurate representation of what the hammam contained and how it looked from the inside.

A model of the external appearance is in the showcases of the "Doctor Nikola Nezlobinski" museum.

Sladjana Stojkova Kostoski – MY