Centuries-old Arab Baths walls washed away by floods in Andalusia (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Flooding in the southern Spanish Andalusia region tore down the exterior walls and flooded the inside of a centuries-old Moorish bath house. The flooding is so severe that the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined.
The Guadalevín river burst its banks in several areas, much to the terror of local residents, who captured the untimely destruction of one of the best-preserved monuments of its kind on the Iberian peninsula.
Temporal en Ronda. Se corta el paso por el Puente Viejo tras la caída de un muro de contención. Los cuerpos de seguridad proceden al rescate de otras dos personas en zona rural. pic.twitter.com/hAxYCaVBpO
— AyuntamientoRonda (@AytoRonda) October 21, 2018
Flooding at the bath house reached up to two meters in certain sections, with the disabled entrances washed away entirely.
Así estaba los baños árabes en Ronda pic.twitter.com/LBBU6H0IW2
— Virginia (@Virginialaraleo) October 21, 2018
The local fire department are currently working to mitigate and redirect the floodwaters, so a full damage assessment will take some time.
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Originally built between the 13th and 14th centuries, the baths later formed a central part of the local agrarian culture and were used mainly for the tanning and curing of hides and animal pelts.
A team of archaeologists employed by the Ronda Tourism Board to provide a preliminary assessment of the damage confirmed that a toilet wall has been torn away and that major structural damage has been inflicted on the baths.
El equipo de Gobierno visita la zona de los Baños Árabes para ver de primera mano los daños en este monumento. pic.twitter.com/qdIWRU471P
— AyuntamientoRonda (@AytoRonda) October 21, 2018
At approximately 3pm local time Sunday, the flooding became so intense it caused several Cypress trees, planted in the 1940s, to collapse into the river.
Local authority chiefs have already met to discuss the distribution of disaster relief funds, including the refurbishment of the damaged baths.
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