With just towels wrapped around their waists, men sip tea in the steamroom of the capital's old hammam bath where Beirutis unite to cool off tempers frayed by Lebanon's heated politics.
Hamam al-Nuzha, a Turkish-style bath dating back 87 years, lies a stone's throw away from Riad Solh Square where opposition supporters have staged a sit-in around Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's offices since December 1.
It is also near the scene of a massive demonstration planned by the anti-Syrian camp to commemorate the second anniversary of the February 14 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
"I come here once a week to relax. I have my own political point of view and I meet a lot of people who do not agree with me," said Talal Hussami, a 45-year-old businessman.
"But it seems that the steam and the hot waters work as natural tranquilizers here," he said.
Smiling mischievously from behind the thick steam engulfing the room, Hussami added: "Maybe the politicians should join us for one day in order to try the Turkish bath. Maybe they will grow calmer."
On the white marble floor of the relaxation room, kept warm by a continuous flow of hot air, a worker was energetically scrubbing the back of a client with a loofa sponge.
"I always come here to relax, after the end of a long day in the office and I do not discuss politics," said Adnan, an accountant.
"I hope the situation becomes better. We all want to live," said Adnan, as his entire body was covered with natural olive-oil soap.
Turkish baths have played an important role over the centuries in cultures of the Middle East, serving as places of social gatherings and ritual cleansing.
"Our clients are from both sides," said Ahmad Bairaqdar, 28, who owns and runs the hammam, the only Turkish bath left in Beirut.
"But they keep their political views outside. Here, they are all united and there is no place for differences in the steamroom," he said.
But Bairaqdar, whose family built the bath in 1920, said business had suffered since last year's Israeli military offensive, followed by Lebanon's acute political crisis.
"Every time there are demonstrations and strikes, we barely have work," he said.
"The tents erected (by the opposition) in downtown Beirut have affected our work a lot. We depend a lot on tourists, and now there are none," he said.
Beirut's central district, once a magnet for tourists, has been deserted since Israel's war on Hezbollah and mainly because of the pro-Syrian opposition's sit-in.
The situation deteriorated in mid-January after clashes that left seven people dead and more than 300 wounded, rousing fears of a return to the dark days of Lebanon's 1975-1900 civil war.
Tensions were further exacerbated this week with the killing of three people in a double-bus attack in a Lebanese Christian mountain village on the eve of the Hariri commemorations.
Al-Nuzha, as the sole survivor out of 11 Turkish baths that were in business a few year ago, faces stiff competition from modern health clubs and spas which have mushroomed across the capital.
"If a client wants a real and relaxing bath for a relatively cheap price, there is no place better than a Turkish hammam," Bairaqdar said.
The hammam has been a witness of the changing times in Beirut.
"In 1970, (Lebanese beauty) Georgina Rizk paid a visit to the hammam before travelling on to win the Miss Universe title," said Bairaqdar.
"But when civil war broke out in 1975, beauty disappeared and most of our clients became militiamen," he said.
"They used to keep their weapons out and enter to enjoy the bath. And when they gather together in the steamrooms, you wondered why these guys were fighting," he added.
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