The original city of Gibraltar founded in 1160 by Abd-al-Mumin would have included both private and public baths, but these, situated in the Gibraltar Museum, date from some time between 1333 and 1374 and are contemporary with the Tower of Homage. The baths comprise of 3 chambers, the first chamber of normal warm temperature where the bather undressed, at least one room at a very high temperature (the Hot Room), and a Cold Room which had no heating at all. The chambers have vaulted ceilings, pillars, and were lit by star shaped lantern roof lights. The central chamber has a domed ceiling and is supported by horse-shoe arches on polished stone columns.

The baths were heated by a network of canals under the floor throughout which hot air circulated, very similar to the Roman Hypocaust system. The baths operated much like saunas do today where the bather alternates between the hot and cold rooms thereby cleansing their body.

The location of these baths are likely to have been within the grounds of the Merinid (the North African Muslim dynasty that ruled Gibraltar at the time) Governor of Gibraltar’s palace, and are therefore unlikely to have been public baths but rather for the use of the Governor and his household. The bathing complex was originally larger than what survives today, but a section of the building was destroyed during the Great Siege of 1779-83.

Conservation and Restoration:  

The baths underwent limited conservation work in the 1930s when the Gibraltar Museum was opened in this building. In the 1970s they were subject to further works. The work conducted at the time did not have the benefit of hindsight, however, and some of the techniques used had aggravated the disintegration of the original brick work. Portland V Cement had been used in areas to patch up the holes where water penetration had caused the original brick work to collapse. This type of cement is impermeable, leading to a build up of damp in the wall which in turn causes crumbling and deterioration.

The decision to tackle this problem was taken at the end of 2002 and a major conservation and restoration project was embarked upon. Because of the sensitivity of the work, all materials were removed by hand.

Walls and ceilings  

The walls of the baths had been covered in various coats of white paint. This surface layer was in very bad condition and coming away from the walls. Patches were correlated,  to zones were there was a major problem with dampness.  Underneath the layer of white paint there were numerous areas which had been repaired with Portland V, under which the original material had either disappeared totally or was in very bad condition. The cement, which in places was as much as 7cm thick, was removed with care being taken not to damage the brick underneath. Most of the original plasterwork had been removed in the past but some remains in areas that were unaffected. The ceilings have also had the cement removed from them. Most of the original star-shaped openings were found to have survived and had not been reconstructed as had been suspected. In the main room remnants of coloured paint, black and red, have been found and a possible inscription running around the architrave, leaving further research work for the future.