In many cultures, bathing in communal bathhouses has been an important social and even religious ritual. In Japan it is the sento, among Yiddish-speaking Jews, the shvitz, and in the Arab world the hammam, all of them centers for socializing across...

Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. Often the term public is misleading to some people, as they will have restrictions based upon who can use the facility — elite members of the culture, men only, religious only. As societies...

How to save Britain's historic pools PRAYER flags fluttered and Tibetan horns sounded. As a golden Buddha looked serenely on, Manor Place Baths in Walworth, south London, began an exotic new phase in its 109-year life. The public pool and wash-house hosted...

"Iam distraught!" wailed the Gentle Reader. And well she might be, with her husband standing there exposed for all the neighbors to see. "Is there anything I can say to convince him that this is improper?" It seems that the gentleman, "who...

The National Park Service and developers have signed a lease that should lead to the reopening of one of Hot Springs National Park's eight historic bathhouses.Quapaw Baths LLC signed the 55-year lease with the National Park Service to operate the Quapaw Bathhouse, the largest of...

When the last coal mine in Yubari closed down in 1990, city elders thought pumping tax money into an amusement park, hall of fossils, ski resort and robot museum would keep this remote snowbound town of 13,000 people afloat and on the map.More than a...