The hammam, a user's guide: steam, scrub and rest

Long before the hotels, the bath

In the villages of Djerba, as across North Africa, the hammam was for centuries the appointment of the week: people went to wash, of course, but also to meet, to celebrate weddings and births. The steam was a social place before it was a treatment.

It is this ritual, handed down through generations, that hotel spas take up today, provided they respect its sequence. Because a hammam is not just a steam bath: it is a precise progression, and every step has its reason.

First, the steam

Everything starts with the humid heat, taken in stages. For the first minutes you do nothing: you sit, you breathe, you let the body warm up. The skin opens, the muscles let go, the breath slows by itself. This preparation is what makes all the difference compared with a "cold" scrub.

The kessa glove, the gesture that counts

Then comes the scrub with the kessa glove, the rough mitt that carries away the dead cells the steam has loosened. The gesture is vigorous, methodical, sometimes surprising the first time. The result is immediate: new, soft skin that breathes. It is the heart of the ritual, and experienced hands do it best.

Rest is part of the treatment

You do not leave a hammam and rush off. The last step happens lying down, wrapped up, mint tea within reach, while the body cools down. Drink plenty, and plan nothing demanding afterwards: the relaxation of the hammam lasts for hours. That is rather the point.

At the house

The spa at Dar El Bhar follows this sequence as it is: traditional hammam, a kessa-glove scrub, a warm-oil massage for those who want the full ritual, and the jacuzzi to extend the calm. Treatments are booked at reception, ideally the day before. The right moment? Late afternoon, after the beach, when the skin has taken in salt and sun.