HISTORY

The Arabic baths have been part of our culture for centuries. During this period, when Andalusia was called Al Ándalus, there were plenty Arabic baths in each of the important cities. We know that in the oldest areas of Jerez, there was at least one bathhouse for each neighborhood, although when the reconquest finished most of them were shut down by the Christians. 

But these baths were the result of perfecting the first Roman thermal baths. To this day in the province of Cadiz you can see well preserved ruins of Roman bathhouses, like in Bolonia (Tarifa). Already the Romans understood the benefits of hydrotherapy and temperature contrasts, although during that period the bathhouses already had certain social purpose, as well as well-being and hygienic uses. This way, they began the experience in the Frigidarium, the cold swimming pool. After that they made their way to the tepidarium, the warm room, as a previous step to the caldarium, the hot water pool. They would spend some time there until, finally, they finished the circuit with the Laconium or steam bath.

The Arabs added value to these bathhouses, warming the atmosphere. The sunlight would filter through openings in the ceiling in the shape of stars or other geometric figures, the walls found in the tiles precious details… These Arab baths were located near mosques, so people could wash themselves before going to pray. Hence the calm and silent atmosphere that invited introspection (which we maintain to this very day).

The main distinguisher between the old Arab bathhouses and the current ones is above all the purpose of these. In ancient Andalusian civilization, they were places where people would meet to talk about business, to discuss what was happening in society, even to play chess. It was a time to bond, to catch up with each others lives. Of course, rigorously organized in shifts for each gender, as the tradition was that men and women would go on different days. Nowadays, bathhouses are places to relax, to enjoy the silence that helps us maintain inner equilibrium in a world that never stops.