monumental site BAZA ARAB BATHS

monumental site BAZA ARAB BATHS

The Baza or Marzuela Arab Baths date from the 13 th century (Almohad period). At the end of the 19 th century they were discovered by historian Manuel Gómez Moreno. They are structured in three main rooms and are a good example of urban baths related with the former mosque, the current Santiago church. They were located in the old suburb of Marzuela, currently the Santiago neigh bourhood. CEILINGS The ceilings of the Arab baths were constructed with barrel vaults or were semi-vaulted, although there were also ceilings which were oval or semi-circular, built with a double ring of brick. They had this form to prevent condensation from water vapour on the ceiling and so that the drops would slide down the lateral walls. They were covered with lime mortar, both on the exterior and interior, upon which there were also paintings, usually in reddish tones. There were a series of orifices or glazed skylights, called lamps (in Arabic madawi), whose function was to allow the entry of sunlight, as well as regulating the temperature and the accumulation of steam in the interior of the rooms, through a mobile system for opening the glass. These lamps could be of various types, although they generally had the shape of six or eight pointed stars, or octagons. ACCESS AREA OR VESTIBULE Front: Warm room The access to the interior of the baths was through the al-bayt al-maslaj or vestibule, accessed directly from the street. This was a semi covered space which contained other areas such as the cloakroom, toilets and caretaker s room. In the case of our baths, it is structured as an open patio, around which covered Overview ceilings

Maslacq or patio access to the Baths spaces are constructed on its four sides, in the form of galleries with roofs sloping towards the interior. This area served as an antechamber to the baths, and was where the bathers left their clothes and received the articles that they needed: towels, soap, sponge, wooden sandals so as not to burn their feet, and a couple of wooden buckets. On the floor we can currently see the remains of the primitive brick and stone flooring (jabaluna stone), as well as the stream or drain which channelled dirty water from inside the enclosure to the ravine which flowed to the exterior of the building (currently Calle del Agua). The brick door jambs of the original door leading to the street are also preserved, from the period when the baths operated, between the 13 th and 16 th centuries.

COLD ROOM Its name in Arabic isal-bayt al-barid,equivalent to frigidarium in Roman terms, a model which was later followed in the Arab baths or hammam. This room served for the re-acclimatisation of bathers before leaving the building, and also, in some cases, for having cold water baths, with water from the pool seen to the right of the entrance. Facing the door we can see a large wine barrel recessed in the floor, the remains of what was a wine cellar once the baths were closed for their original use. We can also see two small spaces at both ends of the room, used as small alcoves or more private areas, separated from the rest of the room by a large double arch, supported by a central marble column and brick pilasters on the sides. Cold room WARM ROOM Its name in Arabic isal-bayt al-wastani, equivalent to thetepidarium or warm room in Roman terms. It was the main room of the baths, and was where bathers spent most of their

Warm room visit. It was the steam room in which massages, ointments and perfumes were received, or where women applied beauty treatments. This room was even used as a place for eating, or smoking water pipes. Ultimately, it was the essential meeting place of the baths. In terms of architecture, it is the most complex room. The central space, surrounded by columns of different construction and materials, it is covered by an oval dome (as if we had turned a boat upside-down). This central area is surrounded by four small areas covered by barrel vaults, while its meeting points at the corners are small, semi-spherical domes. HOT ROOM Its name in Arabic isal-bayt al-sajun, equivalent to the caldarium in Roman terms. In this room, hot water baths were taken, and it acted as a heater, or sauna. The heat was obtained through a radiant floor, today replaced by glass, under which there was an underground combustion chamber, where the remains of the four brick pillars which supported this floor can be seen. This combustion room was heated by the fire and flames generated in the adjoining furnace, the smoke produced from burning fuel evacuated through four chimneys from the corners of this space, under the floor.

Hot room The room had two alcoves at its extremes, of a very similar construction to those of the cold room. Bathers used the very hot, almost boiling water, which they collected from the boiler heated by the furnace, and poured it over their bodies, generating a great deal of steam and heat. This action was alternated with other sprinklings of cold water, constituting the essential part of the whole bathing process, and was usually carried out with the help of a servant or bath assistant (kiyassa for men and tayabaste for women) who would soap and energetically rub the bather. THE WOOD ROOM The furnace (al-furn)and the copper boiler (al-burma) where the water was heated were found in this room, located below where we are. This space was an auxiliary area of the bath building, and could not be accessed by bathers. It also served as a storage area for the fuel used in the oven. To the right, a small corridor can be seen which allowed access to the mouth of the furnace, for loading it.

Opening to the oven and woodshed adjacent to the hot room The ceiling of this room was made of a barrel vault roof, and it is possible to see the remains of the holes in the wall where the roofing beams were supported. Below our feet it is possible to see the small channel enclosed by brick, which allowed the water to access the baths from the canal which ran through the adjoining street (Calle Acequita). THE FURNACE AND THE BOILER To our left, through the glass we can see the brick structure which made up the furnace (al-furn) with its loading mouth at the bottom, as well as the praefurnium or small corridor which connected with the combustion room or hypocaust. Upon this brick structure, the copper boiler (al-burma) was placed, in which the water was heated for bathers, entering the room through a pipe and tap which have not been preserved today. Detail skylights

ADDRESS AND CONTACT C/ Acequita, 7-9-11 18800 Baza (Granada) +34 671 568 518 / +34 958 861 947 banosarabesbaza@juntadeandalucia.es Free entrance FLOOR OF CEILINGS N Wood room LOW LEVEL Hot room Warm room Cold room Maslaq