Banys Àrabs

The Arab Baths in Girona were public baths from the Romanesque period that imitate Roman baths, Muslim baths and Jewish mikveh, a tradition that was recovered in the 11th century with the development of cities. The building is inspired by the typology of North African baths, but its architectural elements are clearly Romanesque: half-point arches, barrel vaults, Corinthian capitals in the 12th-century style, etc. The first documentation relating to the baths comes from 1194, when king Alfons el Cast (Alfons the Chaste) handed over the revenues from the building to Girona cathedral. The baths were demolished around the time of the 1285 siege and, shortly afterwards, Jaume II made a donation to Ramon de Toilà to rebuild them. They probably closed once and for all around the 16th century.