Male Massage 1890

These photographs of male massage treatments were taken in the 1890s at the bath house of Tbilisi, now capital of Georgia. The tradition of spa therapy dates back to classic Greece where great thinkers such as Hippocrates and Homer enjoyed ‘recreational massage’ to clear their minds. The unidentified men in these photos are seen performing massages and cleansing rituals in the famous Oriental baths in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in 1890. After the pair, climb, pound and stretch each other’s limbs in the name of good health they share a shisha pipe. The Oriental baths of Tbilisi is a tourist attraction to this day and the old baths take up an entire district of the city.