Description
El Hammam is situated in the old Jewish quarter of Málaga, in the historic heart of the capital just a few meters from the famous Picasso museum, in a two story building of the XVIII century. We have recovered part of our cultural heritage to offer you all the advantages of an almost forgotten but every day more appreciated activity in our contemporary society: the Arab baths.
Also known as the Turkish baths or "hammam" they are a true revival of the existing "hammamat" in the Islamic culture, from the arquitecture to the way the baths are taken.
The Romans, Byzantines and the Nomads had their own bath rituals before the Arabs did. Those traditions created a new concept the Europeans called "Arab baths".
El Hammam provides a hedonist sensation of the Islamic life. It´s a mistaken belief that the baths were an exclusive practice of the Islamic population and not of the Christian and Jewish. On the contrary, among the Christians were kings, nobles, bourgeoisie and even monks and nuns that enjoyed the baths.
El Hammam or bath house followed the Roman model: a warm hall, a temperate hall and a cold hall with ovens underneath the floor to maintain the temperatures. "It´s an oasis in the middle of the influences and traditions of the western world, with water as a means of "renewing life". Besides water El Hammam combines the use of four basic elements, damp heat, dry heat, cold and massage. Besides its functions of cleaning the body, the skin, battling stress and enabling relaxation, it´s also a place for social encounter.