The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Time suspended, jet lag cured in Seville’s baths
Time suspended, jet lag cured in Seville’s ancient baths
Thousands of candles lighted the twilight of the ancient baths, their reflections flickering in gentle waters.
Thousands of candles lightened the twilight of the ancient baths, their reflections flickering in gentle waters as we soaked. Exotic music faintly filled air stilled like a cathedral by the nearly religious experience.
We slipped into four adjacent white marble-clad baths of varying temperatures while a fifth, down a flight of winding stone stairs, awaited us beneath a vaulted brick ceiling dating to Roman times. The final bath in the series was heavily salted, making us weightless as we floated, seemingly suspended in both space and time.
The sense of time evaporated as my friend and I soaked, emerging between the various pools for nibbles of skewered fruit, sips of cool water, tea and freshly pressed fruit juices. Later, we would learn “Time does not exist” is the mantra for the group of hammams operated by the Aire Group. They nailed it on that one.
It was a sublime, if unintended, cure for our jet lag.
Since booking our weeklong getaway to the southern Spanish city of Seville, I’d wanted to experience a hammam, the communal Arab bath. My oldest friend, a fluent Spanish speaker, committed to finding one we could try.
The Moors — Muslims from today’s North Africa — resided for 800 years what now is southern Spain, known as Andalusia. The Moors left behind their architecture, foods and customs, such as the hammam in Seville, and other parts of the Iberian Peninsula — modern-day Spain and Portugal.
Romans, Carthaginians, Christians and Jews also lived there since well before Christ walked the earth, all influencing the fabric of the city. That history and its warm climate were two major reasons I chose Seville for our early October getaway, just as weather at home was cooling.
Finding the Aire Ancient Baths tucked into a 16thcentury
mansion along one of the narrow lanes in the labyrinthine Barrio Santa Cruz was a challenge. And we were late for our pre-arranged appointment.
But that was no problem, likely because getting lost apparently happens to everyone.
We paid the 30 euro fee and were escorted to a palmy courtyard, the ceiling of which was draped with exotic fabric, three
stories above. We learned that the rooftop pool and lounge area were closed for renovation, which has since been completed.
We drank tea and waited for several others to join our small group. Aire has given its treatments a modern spa makeover but serves just a handful of guests at one time, so the experience remains intimate and special. Our session was meant to be 90 minutes, but no one was watching the clock, least of all us.
We could have indulged in a massage, facial or other pampering treatments but preferred to relax in the waters. They take their names from ancient Roman baths. The caldarium is 102 degrees; the frigidarium is 57 degrees; the ice bath is 50 degrees; the tepidarium is 97 degrees; the balneum has 1,000 jets; the laconium is steam; the flotarium is salt. Also available is a wine bath to absorb the antioxidant qualities of the Ribera del Duero red grape, created by Bodegas Matarromera, one of the most renowned wine makers in Spain.
Those who come the take the baths should bring a swimsuit, but Aire also has them for loan. Lockers, big fluffy towels, rubber shoes and everything else is provided, including luxurious showers at the conclusion. The baths are coed and limited to 20 people at a time.
The baths in Seville, found on a narrow alley named Aire near the Cathedral, are the first of what has become a worldwide group of baths. All are in historic spaces, such as the Aire baths in a 1902 former West Loop factory in Chicago and those in an 1883 textile factory in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood.