The Alcaicería, one of the most important parts of the Nasrid Medina, was originally a silk market and continued to act as such until well into the 19th century, when the silk merchants were joined by other traders and craftsmen who are still remembered today in the names of streets; sederos (silk merchants), pañeros (drapers), curtidores (tanners), zapateros (shoemakers)…

The 19th century Alcaicería had little to do with the markets described by Lalaig or Andrea Navagero three centuries earlier. However its general layout must have been much the same as in Moorish times. It was confined within the same perimeter, which had various doors or gates for access, and its outer walls were made up of houses and shops mounted one on top of another. Its official title of Royal Site and Fort of the Alcaicería proclaims its links with the Crown, which received revenues from the businesses conducted there and which meant it was administered by the Governor of the Royal Alhambra.

On 20th July 1843 the Alcaicería suffered a devastating fire which destroyed most of the shops inside its walls. This disaster proved to be a watershed in the life of the market which was never the same again, in spite of the efforts made to rebuild the perimeter walls and the shops. Those responsible for the rebuilding opted for a markedly neo-Nasrid aesthetic, the first example of imitation Alhambra-style architecture in the city of Granada.

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The hamman or Comares Bath is one of the most significant spaces of the Alhambra, for being the only medieval Islamic Bath that has remained practically integrate around Occident. Known as Royal Bath, as it was reserved for the private use of the Catholic kings, this new space of the month is located between the Palaces of Comares and the Lions, and preserves all its elements, with the structural modifications due to the different uses and a proper maintenance more testimonial that functional.

The rest room, named bayt al-maslaj or Room of the Beds, is one of the most important spaces of the bath and owes its name to the two spacious rooms, lightly high, that flank the main room. Most of the decorative elements of the room: the fountain, pavements, columns and plaster works are original, although the ceilings and plaster works were repaired and repainted with highly colours in the second half of the 19th Century.

The rooms of the Royal Bath of The Alhambra, because of the conservation and the special nature, are normally closed to the public visit but during the month of December it could be possible to visit them through this room.

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