Una de las salas de Hammam Al Ándalus Granada
Today we want to bring you a strange tale about our establishment in Granada. Did you know that the magic atmosphere where you can today enjoy a relaxing bath in the central street of Santa Ana was for centuries a baker’s?
As many of you surely know, Hammam Al Ándalus Granada was opened in 1998 after the refurbishment of a house in this Albaicín street which dated back to the 15th century, and where for generations they had baked bread.
But why a baker’s, exactly? This fact has a historical explanation:
In the middle of the 16th century, Granada was going through troubled times. Some of the conflicts in the city directly affected the Moorish community (Muslims baptised following the arrival of the Catholic Monarchs in Al-Andalus), which attempted to completely limit the majority of these communities’ signs of identity: the Arab language, the clothes and the many and varied rituals.
Among them, the use of the baths that could be found in the city in that era was prohibited. Thus Granada was left with various large rooms along its streets, fitted with the boilers that were necessary in order to heat the water for the hot rooms, and they had to be used for something, so the creation of bakers’ ovens was the best use they could be put to at that time. This includes the one in the house where we can currently find Hammam Al Ándalus Granada.
