Memory of water
From the Arabic al-hamma, "the hot spring": the story of a village written by its water.
The name says it all. The history of Alhama is the history of its thermal waters, which have drawn settlers, travellers and the sick for thousands of years.
The Andarax valley was the cradle of Los Millares, the great Chalcolithic settlement of the 3rd millennium BC. Its proximity encouraged megalithic communities to settle on the strategic heights overlooking the river.
The Romans built public baths harnessing the hot springs that rise here. From that time comes the thermal vocation that would forever shape the history of Alhama.
Under Islam, the place takes its name: al-hamma, "the thermal bath". The Arabs restore the old Roman baths. In the 12th century, the geographer Al-Idrisi describes its waters, renowned for their healing virtues, to which the sick flocked from all directions.
With the fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, Almería and its valley pass to the Crown of Castile at the end of the 15th century. For centuries, the town will be known as Alhama la Seca.
In 1874 the San Nicolás Baths Society is formed to exploit the thermal waters. In 1880, the town officially changes its name to Alhama de Almería. That same century, the export of the Ohanes grape brings prosperity to the valley.
Today Alhama keeps its thermal legacy alive — the spa, the Arab baths, the springs of the Andarax valley — a quiet town that still lives to the rhythm of its water.
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Frequently asked questions
It comes from the Arabic al-hamma, "the hot spring" or "the thermal bath". The village was born and grew around its thermal waters.
To prehistory: the Andarax valley was the cradle of Los Millares, a great Chalcolithic settlement of the 3rd millennium BC.
The Romans built the first public baths (1st–4th centuries); this is where the place's thermal vocation begins.
After the fall of the Nasrid kingdom (1489) and for centuries the town was known as Alhama la Seca, until in 1880 it officially took the name Alhama de Almería.
In 1874 the San Nicolás Baths Society was formed to exploit the thermal waters; in that same century, the export of Ohanes grapes brought prosperity to the valley.