11. The Old City part of Yemen's capital Sana'a is famed for having thousands of buildings that were built before the 11th century. They include over 100 mosques and at least a dozen hammams. What is a hammam, anyway?
From Quiz Yeah, Man, It's Yemen
Answer:
Public bath
Also called Turkish baths, hammams are often located near mosques, to facilitate the cleansing that is required of Muslims before prayer. Typically, it will have three rooms: the sıcaklık (hot room), a warm room often including massage facilities, and the soğukluk (cool room), where the bather finishes the cleansing process under running water, and partakes of refreshments.
The Old City District (al-Qadeemah) of Sana'a is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world, having been built inside the surrounding clay walls over 2500 years ago. Many of its buildings are multi-storied, and bear intricate geometric decorations. Sights include the Great Mosque of Sana'a (built in the 7th century, and one of the oldest in the world), the Suq al-Milh (Salt Market, but much more than that is on sale), and the gate through which the area is accessed, called the Yemen Gate, which is over 1000 years old. The Old City was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1986, a listing which specified 103 mosques, 14 hammams and over 6,000 houses.