Hammam in Granada - Moorish Experience

If you want to relax on your holidays, make sure you visit one of the Arab baths (Arabic name hammam) in Granada which will leave you fresh and new.  They are really worth a visit after walking around Granada and the Alhambra, also a good way to get away from the heat of summer. 

After enjoying a functioning hammam it is well worthwhile visiting the Bañuelo, a monument that gives you an insight into how the Arab baths in Granada were in the past.

Granada preserves some of the oldest hammams in Spain. The Hammam is a steam bath and is made up of different baths each at different temperatures in several rooms.  It is a very traditional way of bathing and having a massage. 

Hammams help you to reduce stress, allows deep relaxation, firming of the skin, provides essential minerals and vitamins, activates blood circulation and offers many other benefits. 

Here we describe hammams generally, El Bañuelo - a monument to hammams, and four functioning hammams where you can enjoy a traditional Moorish experience.

What are hammams?

The Arabic tradition of bathing was inherited from the Byzantines and the Romans which the early Arabic settlers in Spain had experienced in North Africa.  The Arabs adapted the baths to their own specifications by standardising the floor layout and reducing the dimensions of the building.  The use of the baths as a spa - a public space with different rooms, each with its own function - as well as the architectural structure, were essentially Roman concepts. 

The Arab baths generally had four rooms:

• The Albayt al Maslaj - the Entrance Hall, a vestibule to leave their clothes in.  The toilet would be located here
• The Albayt al Banid - the cold room
• The Albayt al Wastani - the warm room
• The Albayt al Sajuno - the hot room
• Al Buma - the service area for the boiler and the store for firewood.

The rooms had hollow floors, which were heated from below ground by the boiler.  As a result the floor became so hot that it was necessary for the bathers to wear protective footwear, in the form of wooden clogs.  In the roof of the bath houses there were a series of star shaped vents, designed to be opened when the heat from the chamber became too great.  The vents were stained glass, so that during the day they let in light and gave the impression of bathing under the night sky.  The walls were painted with scenes that were often of an erotic nature.

The water for the baths was provided by springs from the rivers in the city´s suburbs.  To obtain this water the Moors built a major hydraulic network which, for the time, was extremely innovative. 

Bath houses such as El Bañuelo became a very important part of Muslim society.  They provided a meeting place for fellow practitioners of the Islamic faith, where they could take part in this integral aspect of their religious practices.  The baths were also essential to personal hygiene - when at the baths you would remove unwanted hair, wash, and even have massages.  There would be weekly meetings at each house, with men and women meeting on separate days to ensure privacy - women would only go to the baths once or twice a month, as they were not supposed to leave their houses.  The only exception to this rule was for a bride, she would go to the bath house for her bridal preparations and to cleanse herself before marriage.

The most famous hammam in Granada is El Bañuelo, situated in one of the more privileged areas of the city - the Carrera del Darro.  This is the street which runs alongside the river Darro, at the foot of the Alhambra hill, which was one of the main roads out of the city. 

El Bañuelo was built in the 11th century to serve the Mosque that once stood adjacent to it; the money earned from the hammam was used by the Mosque for maintenance.  The bath house was then known as Hammam al Yawza (The Bath of The Walnut Tree) or the Axares, the latter alluding to the name of the area where the baths were originally built: The Axares Quarter - literally meaning 'health' or 'pleasure'. 

These baths were constantly praised by Moorish poets for their climate and beautiful architecture.  The water which served El Bañuelo came from the nearby River Darro.

This hammam is unique because it is still completely intact, and it is one of the most ancient hammams still standing in Spain.  It is one of the only Arab bath houses not destroyed by the Christians, who considered bathing so often and in such a public manner to be excessive and decadent; they also believed it reduced masculinity.  However, they decided to leave some of the baths untouched, as a salutary example of the heathen practices of their vanquished enemy.

After the Christian conquest, the baths were disused and El Bañuelo became a public laundry.  In 1927 architect Leopoldo Torres Balbas began a restoration project to remove the laundry and turn it into a monument; it is now a National Monument protected by royal legislation.

Walking along the street you can easily miss the door of El Bañuelo.  The baths are located at the bottom of a private house in the Carrera del Darro, at the foot of the Alhambra.

Clean place, relaxing atmosphere, authentic looking hammam and friendly staff that offer professional massages et economical prices.

There are seven pools with different temperatures, 2 dressing rooms with lockers, one for women and another for men, showers, massage and relaxation room.  Services include:

• Arab Bath without Massage - alternative section bath immersion in cold water and hot water.  Price: €23. 
• Arab Bath with Massage - Section massage bath or back or legs with natural essential oils from organic cultivation.  Price: €32. 

• Massage, Bath with Double section - relaxing bath and massage your back or legs with natural essential oils from organic cultivation.  Price: €42. 

Other services include aromatherapy, mint tea, towel and lockers. 

Aljibe San Miguel is open from Monday to Sunday with the following sessions: 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 22 hours. 

The address is Arab Bath Aljibe de San Miguel, San Miguel Alta 41 Street, ground floor, 18002 Granada. 

It is located near Obispo Hurtado Street, 8 minutes from the Cathedral. 

Phone: 958 522 867 and 608 882 116.

For more information please look here.

Very clean, romantic, relaxing and beautifully decorated place that offers a cosy, calm and relaxing bath and steam session.  There is a warm pool and a cold pool, hot tub, steam room, a tea area with warm seats and some refreshments. 

Drinks and chocolate, free shampoo and bath gel are provided at the end of the treatment. 

Elvira Bath and Spa offers traditional massages and bath for very reasonable prices. 

Services include:

• Basic:  Hot water pool with hydrotherapy, cold water pool, steam bath and tea area with refreshments, tea and chocolates included in the price.  This takes 90 minutes and the price is €20 per person.

• Thermal:  Everything included in the Basic service + 15 minutes massage.  The price is €30. 
• Relax service:  Everything included in the Basic service + longer 30 minute massage.  If you like massage this is a better option.  This takes 105 minutes and the price is €40 per person.

There maybe other options, please get in touch with Elvira Bath Spa to discuss. 

Elvira Bath is open from 17:00 to 22:00 hours.  At 12:30 there are group sessions only.  There are some nudist sessions. 

Address:  Elvira Bath and Spa, Calle Arteaga 3, 18010 Granada. 

Phone: 958 806 377. 

For more information please look here.

The Royal Arab Baths of the Alhambra (Baños Arabes Real de la Alhambra) are a replica of the baths of the Comares Palace of the Alhambra. 

Located in the Hotel Macia Real of the Alhambra, is the place where you can enjoy the famous Arab pursuits that include: jacuzzi, Turkish bath, cryotherapy, hot and cold water pool. 

When entering, you have the feeling of time traveling in another epoch. 

The Royal Arab Baths of the Alhambra has a warm and a hot pool, steam bath, cryotherapy, jet shower, jacuzzi, massage treatment room and barber shop. 

Services include:

• Basic Arab Circuit - This includes pool with warm water for relaxing, cold water pool, dynamic pool that contains a jacuzzi, lumbar jets and cervical sprays, cryotherapy, turkish bath and relaxation room with tea tasting.  Duration: 90 minutes.  Price: €29.90. 

• Royal Circuit:  This includes everything in the Basic Arab Circuit + 15 minutes massage.  Duration: 90 minutes.  Price: €39. 
• Califa Circuit:  This includes everything in the Basic Arab Circuit + 30 minutes massage.  Duration: 105 minutes.  Price: €49.

The hammam is open all year round.  From Sunday to Friday it is open from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 22:00.  On Saturdays from 10:00 to 22:00, uninterrupted. 

Address:  Mirador del Genil, number 2, Hotel Macia Real de la Alhambra.  Phone: 958 222 889, extention 791. 

For more information please look here.

Hammam Al Ándalus is located in an historic old stone building in the centre of the city.  It is a cozy and clean place to relax and chill out after a long day of sightseeing in the city. 

It is part of the Al-Andalus chain of hammams, and has both a steam bath and cold, medium and hot pools. 

The changing areas are single sex, they have showers and lockers, but the pools and massage area are coed so you must bring your bathing suit or you can purchase one at the front desk. 

The hammam has seven rooms: 

1. Relax room, where you can rest and to enjoy some tea.

2. Cold room, low water temperature of 18ºC.

3. Warm room, with a temperature of 36ºC. It is the recommended room to start the circuit.

4. Hot room, water temperature of 39ºC.

5. Steam room, water vapour with several essences.

6. Massage room.

7. Hot stone room, with big hot stone where the visitor can relax the skin. 

Services include:

Emerge - bath for 90 minutes, €30.

Mimma15 - bath for 75 minutes and 15 minutes massage, €45.

Mimma30 - bath for 75 minutes and 30 minutes massage, €60.

Midra30 - bath for 60 minutes, 15 minutes massage and 15 minutes of traditional kessa (purification on a hot stone bed), €86. 

Midra45 - bath for 45 minutes, 30 minutes massage and 15 minutes of traditional kessa, €100. 

The hammam is open from 10:00 to 24:00 from Monday to Sunday. 

Address: Hammam Al Ándalus Granada, Calle Santa Ana 16, Granada. 

Phone: 958 229 978 and 902 333 334 

For more information please look here.