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Entrance of the Tiflis Sulfur Baths

Men standing and sitting at the entrance of the Tiflis sulfur baths, in front of a decorated architectural doorway.

Entrance of the sulfur baths in Tiflis, showing figures associated with bathhouse life.

This photograph documents the entrance of the famous sulfur baths of Tiflis, a central element of the city’s urban and social life. Public bathhouses were not merely places of hygiene but vital communal institutions where social interaction, ritual cleansing, and professional bath attendants — known as meqise — played an important cultural role. The carved architectural portal and the presence of bathhouse figures offer valuable insight into 19th-century Tiflis urban culture and the historical tradition of the sulfur baths.

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Facade of a 19th-century sulfur bath building in Tiflis with people gathered in front and a horse-drawn carriage nearby.Men standing and sitting at the entrance of the Tiflis sulfur baths, in front of a decorated architectural doorway.Stereoscopic street view of Abano Street in Tiflis with balconies, pedestrians, and horse-drawn carriages, photographed by Aleksandre Mamatsashvili, 1897.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.A bathhouse masseur standing on a seated man’s back while performing an intensive massage inside a sulfur bath.
Date
Late XIX Century
Source
Library-museum of Joseph Grishashvili
Attribution
Photos are kept in the Museum
Rights
Archive holding - Contact museum for licensing
Old TbilisiPublic & Commercial ArchitectureStreet Life & Urban Scenes