Shahi Hammam

On 1st September 2016, the good news was announced in Bangkok that The Conservation of the 17th Century Shahi Hammam in the Walled City of Lahore has received the Award of Merit in 2016 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation. The Shahi Hammam is the only monumental building in Pakistan that represents the Central Asian/Turkish/Irani tradition of public hot baths. It was designed as a public bathhouse to service both the visiting travelers as well as the inhabitants of the city. A caravanserai was also located nearby but it no longer exists. Hakim Ilm ud din Ansari, who was granted the title of Wazir Khan, was also responsible for the construction of the famous Wazir Khan Mosque further inside the Walled City. The Hammam is a single-story building and covers an area of approximately1,050 square meters. Built on the pattern of Turkish and Iranian bathing establishments of its time (which consisted of hot, warm, and cool plunges, sweat rooms, and related facilities), the Hammam is a collection of 21 inter-connected rooms offering all the facilities found in a public bath, an additional room is set at an angle facing Mecca and has been used for offering prayers. WCLA’s in partnership with AKTC-AKCSP carried out the restoration of the Shahi Hammam, with grant support from the Royal Norwegian Embassy. The conservation started in 2014 and was completed in 2015. In September 2016 Shahi Hamam won the UNESCO Award of Merit.