IFAO

This paper deals with the types of residential architecture’s baths (ḥammām) in Taif city by the end of the 13th/19th Century and the beginning of the 14th/20th Century. Taif city still has 13 baths in 4 palaces considered the only residential buildings that still exist from this period; all its components are almost complete and in a good condition of preservation. This study has classified the types of baths throughout their architectural plans, identified each type and determined the local architectural origin. It also highlighted the impacts of the Ottoman, especially Egyptian, models on its architectural and decorative elements. The study also zoom on the methods of supply, heating and detracting water in those baths.

The study ended with many conclusions and recommendations such as: the types included in the study are not purely local architectural heritage in Taif, but they also represent an arrival architectural style which came to Taif, and give a good example for the houses of the aristocratic class in Ḥiǧāz area at this time. We may conclude too that these baths follow two types: the first is the central plan, and the second is what we can call the consecutive plan. The study has recommended that it is necessary to maintain, conserve and restore Taif residential buildings, especially its baths, and reconstruct the missing parts. It is also recommended that recent additions must be removed because some of them have changed the original cases of the buildings.

Keywords: Islamic architecture – Ottoman architecture – Saudi Arabia – Taif – Ḥiǧāz – ḥammām (bath) – houses – palaces – frigidarium – tepidarium – caldarium.