The Islamic Baths of Loule are recognized as a national monument.

The Islamic baths of Loulé in the Algarve have been classified as a national monument since Saturday, according to a decree published this Friday by the government in Diário da República.

“This decree classifies the Islamic baths of Lole as a monument of national importance. […]granted the status of “National Monument”, according to the Executive Diploma signed by Prime Minister António Costa and Minister of Culture Pedro Adao e Silva.

The Islamic baths of Loulé, discovered in 2006, are, according to the published text, “the first and so far the only archaeologically documented building of this type in Portugal, as well as one of the most complete complexes of its kind identified in the Iberian Peninsula.”

On June 22, the Council of Ministers approved the classification of this building as a “national monument” after the municipality of Loulé opened the procedure in November 2021 with the aim of “giving even more value” to the “unique” complex in Portuguese. territory.

Since opening to the public on May 28, 2022, the Loulé Islamic Baths have become one of the main attractions and tourist attractions in the municipality of Algarve.

The building was erected in the 12th century “near the wall of the same period, the fortress and the main entrance to the Islamic city, so that residents and travelers could perform a cleansing ritual of ablution in addition to longer baths,” according to the decree.

The text adds that Lole’s Islamic baths are “divided into five different rooms: a cold room, a warm room, a hot room, a furnace room, and a vestibule.”

“Frequently found men and women, at various times they constantly served the population between the Almohad period and the modern era, as evidenced by various campaigns of revealed writings,” it also says.

The ruling concludes that the baths are “worthy of a national classification” due to “the exceptional nature of these structures with a long chronology, which constitute the oldest remains of the city of Al-Ulya, the only ones that today allow a complete reading of the hammam in our country with a significant degree of preservation illustrating the most characteristic practices of the Islamic society, revealing the multiculturalism that gives rise to the culture of the south of Portugal”.

The architectural heritage of Portugal is subject to the classification and protection rules established by the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage.