Arabian baths (Baños arabes)
The Arabian Baths is a perfectly preserved 11th century Moorish hammam located in the historic center of the Spanish city of Granada. The uniqueness of the El Bañuelo architectural monument is that it is the oldest Arab baths preserved in Spain. Most of the hammams built in the Middle Ages were destroyed after the end of the Moorish rule. Since 1918, the Arab baths in Granada have had the status of a national monument.
Video: Arab Baths
General Information
The culture of public washing is believed to have been adopted by the followers of Islam from the ancient Romans, and the Arabs in turn taught the courts of European nobility how to wash. The word “hammam”, which was used to designate a bathhouse, comes from the Arabic “ham” or “heat.”
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The bath complex in Granada’s oldest neighborhood, Albaysina, was built of stone during the reign of Badis ibn Habas, who came from the powerful Zirid dynasty. The picturesque hammam is divided into several different-sized rooms. There are no windows here. Instead, small neat star-shaped holes are made in the vaulted ceilings. The floor of the hammam is made of marble, and the walls are covered with a layer of plaster.
.These days, there is no water supply inside the Arabian Baths, nor is there any furniture on display. Visitors are only able to see beautiful elements of Moorish architecture – high vaults, massive carved column capitals and graceful arched ceilings.
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Architecture of the Arab Baths
All surviving medieval hammams have similar architecture and differ only in the size of the rooms. At the entrance to the baths, those wishing to wash left their clothes in the rest room. In baths of higher status, intended for sheikhs, this room had an upper gallery for musicians.
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After the rest room, the inhabitants of Granada entered the cold hall, which was necessary for gradual habituation to the hot air. Here there were fonts of cold water and water-massage treatments were performed so that guests could relax.
The next room in the Arabian baths was called the warm hall. It was intended for washing. It is noteworthy that in the Middle Ages, the people of Granada used soaps, masks, scrubs and aromatic shampoos because beauty and cleanliness were very valued in the Arab world. In the first half of the day men visited the bathhouse and in the second half of the day women bathed here.
The hammam had a heating system hidden under the marble floor. The water boiler was heated with wood, and the hot water was piped into the sloping chute of the steam room. When it came in contact with the heated floor, a lot of steam was generated, which escaped into the hot hall, the hottest room in the Arabian Baths.
.Tourists
The medieval hammam building is open to tourists Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. You should plan on 15 minutes to half an hour to explore it. Entry here costs €2.2.
.How to get there
The Arab Baths are located in the historic center of Granada, on Carrera del Darro Street 31, which runs along the Darro River. You can get here by taking bus number C1 or C2. Get off at the “El Bañuelo” bus stop.
