Discovered nearly 1,000 years old bathhouse hidden in pubs

The motifs dating back to the Almohad Muslim empire were accidentally discovered during the renovation of a pub in the city of Seville.
According to the Guardian , a luxury ancient Muslim bathhouse, said to be nearly 1,000 years old, accidentally revealed itself after a long time hiding inside a famous pub in the center of Seville, southwest Spain.

From legend to reality In the summer of 2020, the owner of the pub Cervercería Giralda decided to renovate his property during a time of absence due to road construction and the impact of the pandemic. After layers of paint, plaster and ceiling, characteristic colorful geometric patterns and stars gradually emerged. The 12th century Islamic-style sauna was discovered in a famous pub in Seville, Spain. Photo: El Pais. Before that, many local legends and some historical documents suggest that the site may have been an ancient sauna. However, the majority of respondents believe that Giralda’s nostalgic architecture has a hint of neomudéjar style (a type of Moorish architecture commonly found in the Iberian peninsula), or Islamic style. This pub and hotel was rebuilt by architect Vicente Traver on the structure of an old building in the early 1920s. Antonio Castro, one of four co-owners of Giralda, said: “It is rumored that there are many old bathhouses here. However, not all historians agree with that hypothesis, some people did not accept it until later. We are doing some reconstruction work, some archaeologists have participated, and that’s how this bathhouse was discovered. ” “A fateful arrangement of differences” Archaeologist Álvaro Jiménez was one of those who believed that ancient bathhouse rumors were just myths. However, in July 2020, his team was gouging plaster on the ceiling when they discovered many eight-pointed star-shaped skylights. “As soon as we saw the openings in the ceiling, we knew immediately what the precursor of this room was. It cannot be anything but a bathroom, ”Mr. Jiménez said. Eight-pointed star-shaped skylights characterize 12th-century Muslim bathhouses. Photo: Álvaro Jiménez. According to the Guardian The design dates back to the 12th century, when the Almohad Muslim empire ruled much of what is today Spain, Portugal and parts of North Africa. “Generally speaking, this bathhouse has more intact decorations than any known bathhouse on the Iberian peninsula,” said archaeologists. “Everything here is decorated, and fortunately, they still exist today. The base of the wall is white mortar, engraved on it with geometric lines, circles and squares. The most characteristic of the bathrooms is the paintings of red ocher painted with stars and eight-pointed asterisks. These two motifs are interleaved with each other, corresponding to them are sky well holes of similar shape ”, Mr. Jiménez described. The star-shaped pattern and the eight-pointed asterisk that decorated the bathroom were covered with plastering lime. Photo: Álvaro Jiménez. Currently, Giralda still needs to be chiseled out of the lime coating to be able to reveal all the underlying architecture. This old sauna and pub is undergoing further maintenance and repair. It will reopen within two or three weeks. Mr. Jiménez described this finding as “a fateful arrangement of differences”. He said Giralda is reborn to become a miracle. Mr. Castro and his partners expect this discovery to open a new chapter to Giralda’s history. They also hope the pub will bring a new experience to customers. “This place used to be just a pretty famous pub. But now, people will enjoy beer or wine in a 12th-century pub and sauna. It’s great that the architect who built this pub in the 1920s respected the architecture of the bathhouse. . Had it been in someone else’s hands, this place might have been leveled and rebuilt. We are grateful to him, ”he shared.