The Ottoman baths continue in the Roman and Byzantine tradition of providing the public with bathing facilities to serve practical and religious needs. They were not monumental constructions like their predecessors but they had the same basic facilities (cold, lukewarm, hot bath areas). Islam requires that the faithful enter the mosque clean, so the baths are frequently associated with religious functions. They assisted people who suffered from various ailments, provided a social space where people (especially women) could gather and exchange news or entertain themselves. In some cases, they could even support the arts, inspiring poets to write “bath poems”.