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City bar reveals historic secret - 19th April 2021

A magnificently adorned, 12th century Islamic bathhouse, rich with geometric motifs and star-shaped skylights, has been revealed within the walls and vaulted ceilings of a much-loved tapas bar in the heart of southern Spain.

Last summer, the proprietors of the Giralda Bar, which has been serving up tapas delicacies near Seville’s cathedral since 1923, turned the nightmare scenario of local roadworks and coronavirus restrictions into an opportunity to initiate a long-delayed facelift.

However, the bar owners got more than they bargained for. As soon as work got underway, an eight-pointed, star-shaped skylight emerged.

Archaeological work then brought to light vaulted roofs studded with nearly 90 skylights, along with stunningly detailed Islamic artwork on the walls of the Moorish-style bar. The find, hidden in plain sight inside the bar, was "completely unexpected", admitted archaeologist Alvaro Jimenez.

“As soon as we saw one of the skylights, we knew what it was; it just couldn’t have been anything but a baths,” he declared. “We just had to follow the pattern of the skylights. Decoratively speaking, these baths have the largest amount of preserved decoration of any of the known baths on the Iberian peninsula.”

Although local legend had implied the site may once have been an ancient hammam, most people had assumed the Giralda Bar’s retro look was down to the fashionable Islamic revival style in which its architect, Vicente Traver, had constructed the bar in the early 1920s. The Giralda’s owners are now toasting a new chapter in the bar’s long history and the foresight of Vicente Traver.

“This was a pretty well-known bar before, but now people will be able to come in and have a beer or a glass of wine in a bar that’s also a 12th century hammam,” said Antonio Castro, one of the Giralda’s four co-owners. “It’s a good thing that the architect back in the 1920s respected the baths – others might have chucked everything out, so we’re grateful to him.”