The layout of the hammam is similar to that of most historic bathhouses in the city and was inherited from the Roman bathhouse model. The first room entered from the street, and the largest,[1] was the undressing room (mashlah in Arabic or goulsa in the local Moroccan Arabic dialect), equivalent to the Roman apodyterium.[2][3] The undressing room of the Saffarin Hammam distinguished itself by being more richly decorated than that of most Moroccan hammams.[8][2] The chamber consists of a large square marked out by four columns, covered by a large high dome, which is set inside a large square whose corners are covered by four smaller much domes.