Author of the Fantasy Bathhouse

Getting information about the architect of the Fantasy Bathhousewasone of the most challenging part of the research process. The articles I read about the building on the Internet, in newspaper articles and blogs, mention the author as German Nikolaus Fon der Nonne, who was the author of the first master plan of Baku. However, in these articles there was not mentioned reliable source as a reference

The second step of the research process continues in the National Library of Azerbaijan During the library research, I found some important books which could help to find out the real situation about the author of the building.

The author of the books are important Azerbaijani scholar, Shamil Fatullayev. (1928-2015) who was doctor of architectural sciences, professor, full member of Azerbaijan National Academy of Science (academician), honored Architect of the Azerbaijan SSR (1979 ) )and Member of the Union of Architects of Azerbaijan.

The book called “Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku” by Shamil Fatullayev was one of the most important source for this report.

In the book “Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku” by Shamil Fatullayev there is a specific chapted which was dedicated to the Islam Safarli street, which is the street where Fantasy Bathhouse is located In this chapter, the author describes important architectural monuments located in the Islam Safarli street (historical name Vorontsovskaya street)

The chapter in the book ‘Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku” dedicated to Islam Safarli street is as mentioned below:

“Vorontsovskaya Street (I.Safarli)begins at "Parapet"s quare (Fountain area) and develops to the north until the Kanni-Tepinskaya street (S.Askerova).

Capital building of the street firmed from the 1870s and continued until to 1910s,in general, 1-2 floor buildings. In architectural view the buildings of developed type are represented in classical methods of order system from the 1880s, using art features of Baku limestone, There’s residential house No. 19 in structure of gothic style(architect I.V.Goslavsky,1895-1897),which differs by high aesthetical data, Residential houses by architects Mashadi Mirza Gafar Izmailov and Fon der Nonne are blended into street's architecture. The hammams Fantasy of Meylamovs, hamam of Aliyevs, and Ermitage are also taking part in street's building with interesting architectural planning solution.”

Even if in this chapter there is mentioned that some of the residential buildings in the Islam Safarli street are designed by architect Nikolaus Fon der Nonne, he was not specifically indicated as the architect of the Fantasy Bathhouse That is it is not enough to take this chapter as a reference to claim the architect of Fantasy Bathhouse as Nikolaus Fon der Nonne.

In the same book there is also a chapter about Fantasy Bathhouse, which describes several architectural features of Fantasy Bathhouse as mentioned below:

“(Vidadi), 23 Gorki, 28 Vorontsovskaya(1Safarli) (1887). The building of «Fan-tasian bathhouse occupies almost the whole quarter of Baku center, It is one of the first bathhouses of the European style in the city, The bathhouse has the magnificent interior planning structure, the waiting room with rich plafond, the walls decorated by ceramic plates with artistic colored scenes, excellent decoration of individual rooms, The facades are made in classical forms of order system with successful semi-circular corners and fountains. The main facade is accentuated by axial-symmetric structure with side risalits. The overall volumetric plastic of the building is faced by the lime-stone on the highest level. The classical methods are widely and skillfully used. The bathhouse is one of the best architectural monuments of the city.”1

The chapter dedicated to the Fantasy Bathhouse, in the book “Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku” by Shamil Fatullayev, gives very important architectural information about the building, however, also this chapter is not indicating the architect of the building. 1

Thus, taking the book “Architectural Encyclopedia of Baku” as a reference to claim the architect of Fantasy Bathhouse as Nikolaus Fon der Nonne would not be reasionable

The book called “Engineer Colonel N.A Fon Der Nonne” by Shamil Fatullayev gave information about building he designed in Baku in IX Century In the list of the buildings, there was not mentioned Fantasy Bathhouse.1 Designing first Master Plan Nikolaus Fon Der Nonne was one of the most important architects for Baku history The list of the book was conducted from the archieves of AZSSR. The list of the buildings from book are mentioned in the next two pages In the list the Fantasy Bathhouse is not appearing

1 Two-storey residential building (1884-1885) Baku

2 Water wharf of the trade house "Dumboand Kogan" (1884-1885), Black city. Sectionand plan were approved on December 20,1884, Fund 389, list 3, unit of storage 452.

3. Building of the "Mutual Credit Union" Thedrawing plan of the lower floor (1885-1887) The Petrovskaya Square

4. Two-storeyresidential building(1885-1887), Baku. The corner of the Vorontsovs-kaya and Gubernskaya streets

5. Two-storey residential building (1836-1887)in Icherishcher Mammad bey Khanlarov General plan, a house near Caravansary, secton was approved on December 12, 1886

6 One-storey residential building (1886-1887)

7 One-storey residential building (1886-1887), Cor-ner of 'Vorontsovskaya and Tserkovnaya streets

8 One-storey residential building in the Telephonnaya Street, 1880s The facade, secuonand the general plan,

9 Project of a two-storey residential buildingof Haji Mammad bey irzabekov, The lacadesection and plan were approved on Novem-ber 5, 1887

10. Two-storey residential building (1886-1888)on the corner of Vorontsovskava and Axi-alskaya streets

11. Project of a two-storey residential buridingand the plan of the first floor were approveuon March 7, 1888

12, Project of a two-storey residential buildingof the first guild Baku merchant Flail Flaitagha Dadashov, The facade, Fund 399 list3, unit of storage 1561, 1891

13 Project of a two-storey residential buildingPlans of floors and lacade were approvedon November 4, 1888

14 Project of the gutter in the Krasnovadakayasir The General plan and sections were ap-proved on December 23, 1885

15 Project of a stone two-storey residentialbuilding with a chapman of the secondguild Haji Abdul Baggi, on the corner ofGimnazicheskaya and Bazarnaya streets,The facade, sections, plans, general planwere approved on March 17, 1888.

16 Project of a two-storey residential building The facade and sections were approved onJanuary 16, 1887.

17 Project of one-storey stores, general plan,the facade and section were approved inJuly 19, 1886.18. Plan of the first floor. Interesting plan butthere is not any other data

19 Project of a two-storey building Facade -no more data 20 Project of the construction of a two-storeybuilding of the partnership Kusis and Teofilantos, Facade, section and a general planwere approved on October 7, 1887

21 Project of a two-storey building The façade

22. Project of a two-storey building. Facades,Fund 389, 1. 3, un. of st. 325. Approved onJanuary 23, 1884,

23 Project of a two-storey building and super-structure in the northern facade of Bakudweller Haji Mammad bey Irzabekov in thefirst part of Baku City. The facade and planwere approved on January 21, 1888.

24 Project of a wooden wharf of the *Kusisand Teofilaktos" trade house on Petrovs-kaya embankment, Plan and longitudinalsection, the fragment of the section was ap-proved on October 7, 1887

25. Project of a two-storey building in Kame-nistaya str. General plan and section (1888-1890)

26, Project of two-storey building in Krasno-vodskaya and Merkurevskaya Streets App on 27 06 1884 Fund 389, 1 3, un of st 396 Facade, section and gen, plan

27 The project of a two-storey building for vineand vodka production, Terentyevo on thecorner of Vorontsovskaya and BondarnayaStreets. Approved on March 17, 1892 - fin-ished in 1894 Facades, plans, general plansand a section.

28 Project of three-storey building in 30 Kras-novodskaya str Plans, sections, generalplan, facade. 30.11.1887-1889.

29 Project of three-storey shops of FedorV Podbelsky on the corner of the Politseys-kaya and City Police, Presented for the citycouncil on January 15, 1888, approved onFebruary 29, 1888

30. Project of superstructure on the secondfloor at the corner of Krasnovodskaya andPetrovskaya square Approved on July 27,1884 The facade, sections, plans and thegeneral plan Archive data: fund 389, I 3,un of st. 597

31 Drawing plan of the lower floor of thebuilding "The society of Mutual Credit“

32. The Debug's palace, plans of the floors,secton.

33 Superstructure of the first floor of the resi-dential house at the corner of Nikolayevs-kaya and Persidkaya Streets (1888-1889)

34 The project of two-story residential buildingat the corner of Surakhanskaya, Tsitsianovs-kaya and Aziatskaya streets (1888-1890)

In the research process of finding reliable resource to validate the statement of Nikolaus Fon der Nonne being the architect of Fantasy Bathhouse, I checked several books related to the german architects of Baku, and Northern Azerbaijan. Those books are, “German Heritage in the Architecture of Azerbaijan” by Elchin Aliyev, “Baku and Germans” by Tamara Humbatova, “Germans in the Northern Azerbaijan” by Hajar Verdiyeva.

These books are containing information about the German architects whose works had influence in the architecture of Baku Nikolaus Fon der Nonne, has been mentioned in these books, as the author of important buildings in Baku, and as the author of the first Master Plan of Baku. However, the name of the Fantasy Bathhhouse was not mentioned among the works of the Nikolaus Fon Der Nonne netiher in these three books.

I got a chance to get a short interview with Elchin Aliyev who is the author of the book “German Heritage in the Architecture of Azerbaijan” The interview was done through internet, in 09 12 2021 The question why Fantasy Bathhouse was not included to the book, in the chapter where he escribed buildings designed by N F der Nonne, was answered by architect Elchin Aliyev In his answser, he mentioned that, he was not sure about statement of Fantasy Bathhouse being designed by N F der Nonne, and that was the reason why the building was not included in the book

The other book of the same author, “Architects of Baku:late XIX-early XX centuries” is a great documentation of buildings built in Baku by famous local and western architects The book is listing buildings of Baku, by categorizing architects. More than 30 ordinary architects and experts who have made a huge contribution to the layout of Baku, architectural skvline and silhouette were actively involved in the city construction 1 The list of the architects who had contributed to he construction of Baku during the late XIX-early XX century is mentioned in the book as below:

1. V.Izmailov1884-1899 - 15 years

2. Z.B.Buynov- 1888-1904 - 16 years

3. O Simonson 1877-1893 - 16 years

4. Ploshko - 1899-1913 (14 years

5.7.B.Ahmadbeyov- 1905-1925 - 20 years

6.E.YSkibinsky - 1885-1898 - 13 years

7.J.W. Edel - 1886-1899 - 13 years

8. G.B.Hajibababeyov - 1858-1870 - 12 years

9 I.Goslavsky-1893-1904 - 11 years

10. FLemkul - 1880-1891 - 11 years

11. N.A Fon der Nonne - 1884-1894 - 10 years

12. À S. Kandinov - 1884-1893 - 9 years

13. KB.Skurevich-1895-1904 - 9 years

14. N.Bayev - 1910-1918 - 8 years

15. N.Tverdokhlebov - 1880-1887 - 7 years

16.A.Koshinsky1882-1888 - 6 years

17. A. VEichler - 1893-1911 - 18 years

Starting from the 1880s, in the construction of Baku, the European classicism was highly reflected 1 This style was seen both in residential and commercial buildings. Classical columns, plasters, highly decorated facades, porticos were irreplicable parts of the new constructed buildings, which is also relatable to the exterior appearance of Fantasy Bathhouse. This phenomenon was practised by local and western architects, while designing the residential and commercial structures As the oil-boom evolved to the construction boom, land owners were hiring famous architects to design private houses for themselves, with their of taste of this, and as a result the narrow streets of the Forstadt was seen as alignment of the classical two or three story structures following one another.

As mentioned in the book “Architectural Enciclopedia of Baku” by Shamil Fatullayev, the street Vorontsovskaya ( Islam Safarli) was hosting the residential buildings designed mostly by Mashadi Mirza Gafar Izmailov and Fon der Nonne during late XIX century. These residential buildings were reflecting the European classicism, as Fantasy Bathhouse did

The architectural style, and construction date of the Fantasy Bathhouse has correlation with the mentioned architects works, however, one would agree with the fact that this is not enough to claim the author of the Fantasy Bathhouse as N F der Nonne

Taking into account the fact that, the European classicism style was studied and applied in Baku by other architects of the time Some of those buildings façade drawings are shown in the following pages.

It can be reasonable to state as a result of the research that, the author of the building is not known in today’s conditions. These conditions are also affected by the limited possibility of accessing the architectural achieves of Azerbaijan State, and AZSSR As Shamil Fatullayev stated in his book, “Architects of Baku”, in the Central State Historical Archive of Azerbaijan Republic, there were found more than 250 projects, however it was not physically possible to view them all. That could be reason for missing the related information about Fantasy Bathhouse in the book written by the former author

Fantasy Bathhouse: Back to 2008-2014

Fantasy Bathhouse has a beautiful tearoom, which was one of the most important features which made the bathhouse the luxurious of its time The images from 2008, taken by Sebastian Burger/Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo shows that, in 2008 the situation of the tearoom was not in bad condition as it is today.The ornaments of the walls and ceilings were remaining as they were

The circular windows in the decorative pool area were not broken, the ceiling was not collapsed as it was today in 2022 The classical chandelier was decorating the room

The tearoom was furnished with sofas, tables and chairs Even though the furnitures were in modest quality, was not expressing the original luxurious atmosphere of the Fantasy Bathhouse, it was sufficient for the usage of the room as a relaxation area

In the images shown in next pages, the men and a boy are appearing to seat around the tables In the culture of Baku teahouses, they are used only by men, it is a place for men spending time together to play table games, and drinking tea The occupation of the Fantasy bathhouse tearoom by men means the usage of the building by the women of the city looses its reality. However, originally the Fantasy Bathhouse was used not only by men, but also women and kids It could be stated that, the change of the user profile of the building, was start of the abandonment period. Gradually,

In 2013 in one of the scene of the movie “Qorxma men seninleyem” was shot in the tearoom of the Fantasy Bathhouse. The images below are from the scene and backstage In the scene, there were used national carpets, in order to create more oriental ambiance The door opening to the courtyard from the tearoom was covered with the curtain

Fantasy Bathhouse was actively used during the 2010s The images of the building dating back to 2008-2014 gives information about the buildings interior and exterior conditions those days When I entered the building on 24 April 2022, on the corridor, there was signs of the “WIFI” and Card Payment facilities, which proves that the bathhouse was used will the late years However, this does not mean that the building was used in full of its capacity. Because the rooms of the building and the exterior decays were giving the sign of the upcoming abandonment of the building

The images below, are taken in Fantasy Bathhouse, in 2014, From the images below, it is clear that the situation of the bathrooms in the bathhouse were not in the perfect state. The bath tobs are antisanitarian, there walls and floors of the rooms are affected due to the humidity. The upper image shows some of the tiles on the walls replaced with anothers The utilities are the bathrooms are not responding the sanitarian requirements of the bathhouse, as it should be. The water supplies are also given by the not up-to-dated way, by filling the buckets

Despite the unhealthy and insufficient situation of the bathrooms, the Fantasy Bathhouse was used as a bathhouse in 2014. This could be understood from the price list that was attached to the wall of the corridor In 2014 the price of the scrube for 1 person was 10 AZN, as well as the massage per person In 2014, 10 AZN was approximately 9 7 euro

The image above (2014) shows the work hours of the tearoom, which was from 9 am to 9 pm. According to some humors by citizens of Baku, in the last years (till 2017) of the usage, Fantasy Bathhouse was mainly used as a “çayxana”teahouse Taking into account the situation of the rooms, this statement would be reliable

The image shows the exterior of the Fantasy Bathhouse in 2014 There is seen missing part in the semi-circular window, on top of the lion head, and on the stone of columns However, in general the damage of the façade elements are less compared to today’s situation. The cars parked on the narrow pedestrian road are surrounded the building perimeter, which is worse compared to the current scenario However, today, instead of the cars, the walls of the Fantasy Bathhouse are surrounded with trash bins, on the façade facing the Vidadi street The trashes, on the vase, below the lion head are not seen in 2014 However, the lion head is not pouring water from its mouth, as it was supposed to according to the original function of it

The images (2014) below are showing the walls of the longest façade, which is facing the Islam Safarli street The windows had missing part, back to 2014 as well, which also means the bathrooms were affected by . Compared to today the decays related to the water were not as bad as now The graffities are appearing less in 2014, as well. In overall, the decays of the exterior windows seem less in 2014 compared to 2022