The Minister of Culture and Sports, Patricia del Pozo, has visited the consolidation and adaptation works of the Arab baths of San Pedro, an intervention that has just begun and will allow the opening of this unique monument to the public in the city of Córdoba.
The works, with a 13-month execution period and a budget of 1,614,271 euros, co-financed with the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), «will allow to harmonize the conservation of this monument with its visit,» highlighted Patricia del Pozo. She emphasized the commitment acquired and fulfilled by the Government of Juanma Moreno to «open the doors to the public of this exceptional asset, as the people of Córdoba have been demanding since it was acquired by the Andalusian Government in 1992.»
The Minister of Culture and Sports has emphasized that this action «will restore to this monument, classified as a Cultural Heritage Site (BIC), much of its original splendor, dating back to the 11th and 12th centuries, since these baths, despite the neglect they have suffered for decades, retain much of their original structure.»
Likewise, Del Pozo, accompanied on the visit by the Government Delegate in Córdoba, Adolfo Molina, the Vice-Minister of Culture and Sports, Macarena O’Neill, and the Secretary General of Historical and Documentary Heritage, Mar Sánchez, recalled the exceptional value of these baths, near the church of San Pedro, with which they maintain a historical relationship, as they are «the only ones in the outskirts area known as Axerquía, located east of the old medina.»
The conservation works on the monument include consolidation work on the vaults and walls. They also include the construction of a roof that will restore the volume of the building and, in turn, solve the natural lighting of the space, with a solution in line with the adjacent newly-built building.
The baths will be visited with tours inside on the ground floor and above the vaults, on the first floor, through walkways.
In addition to the rehabilitation of the baths, the works foresee the construction of a new building on the adjacent plot, currently empty, where a visitor reception area will be set up. In the future, this building will also house an interpretation center, whose museological project is already drafted and pending tender.
The baths of San Pedro de Córdoba are organized according to the traditional typology of Arab baths: entrance hall with patio and dressing rooms, now disappeared, Cold Room, Temperate Room, Hot Room, which houses the baths, and Boiler Room. Additionally, two cisterns, a drainage network, and a well and wheel for water supply are preserved.
Synagogue
Likewise, during her visit to the baths of San Pedro, Del Pozo has announced the start of the contracting process for the reform of the plot adjoining the Synagogue of Córdoba, which will be published in the second half of June. The works will have a budget of 440,822 euros and will be fully financed with the own funds of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The plot was acquired by the Andalusian Government in 2008.
This important intervention aims to build an interpretation center with a dual purpose: on one hand, solve the problems of visitor congestion at the entrance of this monument, the second most visited in Córdoba, which last year attracted nearly 600,000 tourists, and on the other hand, address the lack of exhibition space to make the history of the Cordovan synagogue understandable, classified as a National Monument and Cultural Heritage Site (BIC).
This new space, in addition to contextualizing the building through various means, such as panels, models, and audiovisuals, will highlight the mural and archaeological structures discovered in the different campaigns, including the remains of the Jewish ritual bath -or ‘mikvé’- found during the works. Thus, once the works are completed, we can talk about a «Córdoba Synagogue complex,» concluded Del Pozo.