Islamic Baths date back to 12th century
The Islamic Baths of Loulé are one step closer to gaining national monument status.
The proposal to grant this special status to the historic site, the only of its kind to have been discovered so far in Portugal, has been put up for public consultation for one month, according to an announcement published in the State newspaper Diário da República this Friday.
Lusa news agency explains this is the final phase of the classification process.
Since opening in May 2022, the Islamic Baths have become one of the main points of attraction and tourist interest in this Algarve municipality.
If all goes according to plan, the site will be classified as a national monument in less than one year after the launch of the public consultation period, a city council source told Lusa news agency.
Although the Directorate-General of Cultural Heritage agreed and proposed the reclassification of the Islamic Baths on December 16 to the Secretary of State for Culture, the one-month public consultation period began to count this Friday.
This historical monument is considered by the municipality as “the most complete venue of its kind in the Iberian Peninsula”.
The Islamic Baths of Loulé are believed to have been open between the 12th and 13th centuries and were discovered in 2006.
New divisions were found in 2013 and structures such as cold tanks, latrines and vestibules were uncovered, following rehabilitation works carried out in the historic centre.
The procedure to classify the Islamic Baths of Loulé as a national monument started in November 2021, at the request of the local authority, with the aim of “giving even more value” to a complex that is “unique” in Portugal and which, “in terms of its layout,” is “one of the most complete in the Iberian Peninsula.”
Source: LUSA
