Turkish Bath Basin (Kurna): Sizes, Materials and Plumbing

Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions engineering team, Istanbul · project and press enquiries: Alican Aykaç, Managing Partner

Updated: 6 November 2026

A kurna is a basin carved from 1 block of stone, usually marble, set against the wall of the hot room. Water runs into it from 2 taps, hot and cold, and bathers mix it in the bowl before pouring it with a small bowl or tas. It is not a bathtub: no one sits in it. The basin, the bench beside it and the heated platform in the middle make the classic layout.

The basin is one of the elements of a full hammam described on our Turkish bath page, together with the platform, the ceiling and the waterproofing.

In our projects the top of the basin sits 85–90 cm above the floor, the bowl is 45–60 cm across and 20–25 cm deep, and 2 basins are at least 1.20 m apart. Each flows at about 12–15 litres per minute per tap. These figures are typical values we use, not a standard; every basin is sized to the bench height and the room.

Each basin is made to the project; the table is a starting point for the drawing.

Usually 1 per 2 or 3 bathers who wash at the same time. A 2-person villa hammam often has 1 basin; a 6-person hammam has 2. Hotels with larger hot rooms add more along the walls, keeping at least 1.20 m between them. Count the peak users, then check the wall length after doors, benches and the heated platform are drawn.

Mostly marble, carved from 1 block, because it holds warmth, can be shaped with a smooth bowl and matches the rest of the room. Granite and composite stone are used in modern rooms. The inside of the bowl is polished smooth; the outer face can be carved. Behind the basin, the wall carries a continuous waterproofing membrane, and the basin is fixed after the membrane is tested.

With hot and cold supplies to 2 taps, a thermostatic limit on the hot side, and a drain path from the floor in front. The supplies are pressure-tested before the stone is fixed. The basin itself is not usually drained to a pipe; spilled water runs across a floor that falls to the hammam drain.

The water delivered to the basin is typically around 40–45 °C at the tap.

Valves sit where they can be reached without lifting stone, often behind an access panel outside the hot room. The full build sequence is set out in our guide on how to build a hammam.

Along the walls of the hot section, around the heated platform and away from the door, where the room is warmest. A bench or stool sits in front of each basin. In modern rooms with marble slabs and simpler basins, the same spacing rules apply; see our page on the modern hammam. For villas in the Gulf, our page on the villa hammam shows typical layouts.

The room around the basins runs with air at 40–50 °C, so every surface near them is waterproofed and every fixing sealed. For the history and rooms of the bath, see what is a Turkish bath.

Sauna Dekor Spa Solutions is a sauna, steam room, hammam and pool manufacturer since 1987: 40 years of manufacturing in Istanbul (İkitelli OSB), a team of 19, TS EN ISO 9001:2015, and 5,000+ projects in 41+ countries, including 577+ hotel and resort projects, with 732 documented references in 32 countries and territories. Our full range is on our products page.