Hammam Meskhoutine

At Hammam Meskhoutine, near Guelma, thermal water reaches the surface at close to boiling, around ninety-six degrees, which puts it among the hottest natural springs in the world, and as it cools it deposits dissolved minerals that have built a cascade of white and ochre travertine down the hillside, with cones and terraces still growing. Steam rises from the channels and the water has to be cooled before it can be used in the bath complex below, which has operated since Roman times and continues as a thermal spa. A local legend explains the standing stone cones as a wedding party turned to stone, which is where the name, the accursed baths, comes from.

History

In Roman times the place was called Aquae Thiblitanae, after the nearby town of Thibilis, and the Romans built baths at the spring that can still be used today; its many-coloured travertine walls have drawn locals and visitors since then. The Arabic name, the bath of the damned, comes from a legend of a man who married his sister: as the wedding procession climbed the valley the sky went dark and the whole party was struck by lightning and turned to stone, and the billowing shapes of the spring are said to be the frozen wedding guests in their robes (Wikipedia, Hammam Maskhoutine).

What you'll find

• Water at close to boiling - one of the hottest springs anywhere.
• Travertine terraces and cones - mineral deposits still building.
• Steam over the channels - the visible heat of the outflow.
• The thermal bath complex - the spa fed by cooled water.

When to go

October to May; summer is hot and the steam is less visible. Half a day. Mornings in cool weather show the steam best. The baths are separate from the cascade site.

Before you go

The water is genuinely scalding and people have been badly burned; keep to marked areas. The site is run down and littered in places. Bath facilities are dated and segregated by session. Development around the springs has damaged parts of the travertine.

Nearby

Guelma lies east; the road to Constantine runs west.

Key facts