Savadkooh local historical recognition Case Study: Public Bath

Research in social history is very important for applying historical research. Local histories help to clarify civil life, cultural heritage and civilization. As a part of Iranian architectural heritage and its social and cultural achievements, public baths would be important for studying the social and local history of Iran and finding the Iranians’ cultural and moral traditions. This study is based on a cross-sectional method. Relying on the library resources and using field study and oral narrations, this study tries to seek an answer for this question that how the architecture, customs and social functions of the public baths was in Savadkooh? According to research findings, in addition to providing Hygiene and Public Health, public baths play significant roles in cooperation, communication, exchanging information, increasing awareness of rural people, sociability, understanding the social and class divisions, considering religious practic such as prayers, property, land and inheritance disputes, telling memories and transferring experience to the next generations of village, performing traditional and folk music and singing, and the persistence of social and cultural customs and traditions. The geography and climate of the region affected on the architecture style and the materials used in the construction of the baths. At the beginning of the Pahlavi era, domestic baths were replaced by large public baths and this change caused the social function of baths in the rural life of Savadkooh.