Arab Baths, Palma de Mallorca (must see)

Romans, Byzantines and Arabs had settled one after the other in Mallorca before the Catalans arrived. In the Arab days it was called Medina Mayurqa and they really liked to bath. They built their baths, called hammams, using materials left behind by the Romans and Byzantines. They used old bits of columns and capitals and voila! A bath!

The Arabs built well. The baths in Mallorca are over a thousand years old. One may not vouch for the plumbing, but the building materials are still good. Maybe shabby, but ok. The hot room and warm room of the Arab Baths are still extant but the cold room is no more.

The hot room is a square room. It has 12 columns and a domed ceiling. It is a gallery with a barrel vault. The room has 24 holes for ventilation. The dome has five holes to let in light and fresh air. There is a small well-tended garden attached to the baths. The garden has a jasmine archway, subtropical trees and plants. An afternoon enjoyment.

The baths are only a walk of a minute or so from the Palma Cathedral. They open at 9am to 6pm in the evening in winter and until 7:30pm from April to November.