 Baths | The other halls are quite simple, without decoration on the walls, with marble paving, simple tile skirting boards, horseshoe arches without decoration and vaults with star-shaped skylights, which were once closed with stained glass and were used to light the chamber. The next chamber is the «frigidarium», or cold chamber. In Arab baths there is a cold water basin, instead of a swimming pool like in Roman thermal baths. The central hall is the «tepidarium» or warm hall, which is connected with the other halls by arches. Finally there is the «caldarium» or steam hall, which was the hot hall of the bath. Inside this hall there was a copper boiler where water was first heated and later taken by through underground galleries in order to heat these chambers. The pipe through which hot water came out can still be seen in a niche with tiles. From this hall people had to go back to the «apoditerium» using the same way. The result was a bath with a very agreeable temperature gradation. In fact, the layout of the Alhambra's bath was not unique, but rather similar to other Arab baths. |