12th-century Islamic bathhouse uncovered in Seville tapas bar

[jungleboy]

Story in the Guardian.

A magnificently decorated 12th-century Islamic bathhouse, replete with dazzling geometric motifs and skylights in the form of eight-pointed stars, has emerged, a little improbably, from the walls and vaulted ceilings of a popular tapas bar in the heart of the southern Spanish city of Seville.

...

“Absolutely everything here is decorated, and, luckily, it’s survived. The background is white lime mortar engraved with geometric lines, circles and squares. On top of that you have red ochre paintings of eight-pointed stars and eight-petalled multifoil rosettes. Those two designs alternate and entwine and adapt to the different geometric shapes of the skylight holes.”

 

[henrythedog]

I was so hoping that it would be under the Bodega Santa Cruz, so that I wouldn’t need to venture out. No luck.

 

[Stivandrer]

Imagine when refurbished to its former function, to have a proper wash and massage, and then joining the chairs in the new café outside, dressed in slippers and bathrobe for coffee, water and the odd water pipe....

..you are allowed to dream...

 

[Pelegrin]

I watched it on Spanish TV yesterday. The remains are in a very good condition.
The people of Al Andalus were much cleaner than the Christians. No doubt.

 

[malingerer]

Imagine when refurbished to its former function, to have a proper wash and massage, and then joining the chairs in the new café outside, dressed in slippers and bathrobe for coffee, water and the odd water pipe....

..you are allowed to dream...

and what would be in the pipe, eh?

Samarkand

 

[Arn]

I watched it on Spanish TV yesterday. The remains are in a very good condition.
The people of Al Andalus were much cleaner than the Christians. No doubt.

Time and place has much to do with observance of hygiene. I've lived along side many cultures: each had access to a "comfort station", bathing area of sorts and, the occasional opportunity to be "rubber the right way." In Field of Dreams, the line "If you build it they will come!" is said and Kevin Costner hears it.
My experience is ....many more people than reported need to take advantage of the facilities available.

 

[Anniesantiago]

No photos?

 

[peregrina2000]

No photos?

Click on the link in Jungleboy’s first post - The Guardian.

There are also pictures in El Pais.

 

[Deleted member 73526]

Do I understand correctly, that the decoration was exposed at the time of the building's conversion in the 1920s but the building's pedigree was subsequently "forgotten" - assumed to be a neo-mudejar (islamic revival), with rumors of the hammam dismissed as fantastical?

It reminds me of the day I walked around the Roman circus in Merida, which was hidden under a field and was almost lost to a 20th century road project, but Merida just started to care about its ancient monuments in time to save it.

The idea that historic buildings are worthy of preservation is actually quite a recent way of thinking - and in some places it still isn't considered a priority.

 

[Lance Chambers]

Story in the Guardian.

Wonderful find.

 

[mspath]

Story in the Guardian.

Sometime in the future that bathhouse/bar might be lit by means of fermented orange juice!

No joke. See Leftover Oranges
by Stephen Burgen in the 23/02 edition of The Guardian

 

[Kanga]

How wonderful. Just one more reason to visit Seville. Who could resist a drink in that tapas bar?

 

[Deleted member 86813]

Could a former bar be one of Spain's lost medieval synagogues?

Work is under way to see whether an abandoned 14th-century building is part of the legacy of the country’s exiled Jews

www.theguardian.com