Right next the palace of La Almudaina in Palma de Mallorca there are The Arab Baths (Banys Àrabs). They are in the courtyard of the brollador and the gardens are surroounding the walled enclosure. They can be accessed via Ca'n Serra street corner with Convert of the Cathedral. There can be seen there lush gardens of Ca'n Fontirroig, home to Sardinian warblers, house sparrows, cacti, palm trees, and a wide range of flowers and ferns.
Actually there is a small two-roomed brick building that once housed the bath and was mostly used by the moors. This facility is, in fact, of Byzantine origin, dating back to the 11th century and possibly once part of the home of a Muslim nobleman. The bath room has a cupola with five oculi which let in dazzling light. The twelve columns holding up the small room were pillaged from an earlier Roman construction. The floor over the hypocaust has been worn away by people standing in the centre, mainly to photograph the entrance and the garden beyond it. The whole room is in a rather disreputable condition. The other room is a brick cube with a small model of the baths as they once were in the corner. Unfortunately one of the columns in this model has fallen over.
In the Middle Ages the waters of Palma Bay came up to the palace walls and it was possible to board a boat from the king's tower.
La Almudaina is currently used by the king as an official residence for state ceremonies and receptions during the summer.
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