Since ancient times, water has represented the subsistence of life and eternal youth. In Granada, water is linked to Muslim history and culture or, what amounts to the same thing, the DNA of the city itself.
In addition, the water in Nasrid Granada served to define specific axes of architectural composition. The continuous presence of reservoirs, canals and fountains all over the city were used to join apparently unconnected areas.
Hammam Al Ándalus Granada Hot Room
The importance of water in our daily lives can be seen in the huge number of springs with properties that are found there.
Water, in addition to being the source of life, calm and health, sometimes makes of Muslim Granada a mirror which is capable of reflecting and multiplying the adornments. United with light, it increases the vitality of the urban centre and creates incomparable mystical compositions.
The Alhambra, in fact, is the best example to show the importance of water in Muslim culture. although this was not an exception. The Arabs who populated the Peninsula for several centuries could not conceive of a city without water, and so the culture of the baths, or Hammam, progressively extended throughout Iberia.
The Arab baths are a demonstration of the importance of water in Muslim culture. This cult of water was due to the properties of the liquid, and how it positively affected the bodies and organisms that were able to enjoy it. It is a well-known fact, and has been previously published in this blog, that more than a need for hygiene, the possibility to enjoy a bath was a social custom.
Water, in addition to its basic properties for life, had other more mystical functions. It was present in liturgical rites due to a belief in the cleansing of the spirit, which fused with the day to day magic of the city of the Alhambra.
