Tucked into a private garden in the La Calatrava quarter, the Arab Baths are among the best-preserved Islamic remains in the Balearic Islands and the most complete baths surviving from the Moorish period on Mallorca. Dating from the tenth or eleventh century, when Palma was the thriving capital of a Muslim-ruled island, the baths consist of two rooms: a cold room and the domed hot room, whose ceiling is pierced by small circular lights that admit diffused shafts of light into the steam-filled space.
The setting — a small walled garden planted with citrus and palms — adds considerably to the experience. You enter from Carrer Serra in the La Calatrava neighbourhood. The baths are a private property run as a tourist attraction and tend to be uncrowded, which makes them a pleasant contrast to the busy cathedral area. The visit takes about twenty minutes. The garden alone, quiet and shaded in the middle of the old town, is worth a few minutes of contemplation.