Hammam Meskhoutine (bath of the damned in Arabic) located in the wilaya of Guelma in northeastern Algeria is a hot spring whose name is taken from a local legend.
15 kilometers from the city of Guelma in northeastern Algeria is the thermal spa of Meskhoutine, one of the country’s many hot springs. Hammam Meskhoutine counts with hammam Salihine among the hottest springs in the world with a temperature that can reach 98 ° C and contains figures marked by water going from the water table to the wall, passing through the cones and the tiers.
The spa is characterized by a strong flow with an arrival of warm waters through petrified cascades of limestone rich in colors eight meters high and 500 meters wide. The site is also characterized by a singular legend giving it the name of the cursed bath.
The legend of Meskhutin (the damned in Arabic)
It is said that once a powerful and feared tribe lived in the region. Among the tribe was a horseman named Sid-Errezq who had a sister named Yamenah, as beautiful as he was brave. Many rich and powerful suitors courted her in the hope of marrying him, but her brother never consented to marry her, arousing suspicion of his love for her.
When it became public knowledge that the couple was getting married, the community horrified by the incestuous union withdrew from the celebrations. The ceremony took place at the site of the current hot spring and brought together the bride and groom, the witnesses as well as the cadi. After several days without news of the latter, the tribe members who returned to the site discovered conical figures at the site of the ceremony. We then conclude that the protagonists of the accursed wedding were petrified by divine justice and the place was baptized Hammam Meskhoutine (bath of the damned).
A therapeutic bath
Hammam Meskhoutine water is among the most mineralized of trace metals hyperthermals. It contains chlorides, sulphates, carbonates, arsenic, traces of iron and hydrogen sulphide. The water source largely enjoys the physiological and therapeutic properties of chlorinated water and holds a healing power used by the local population for millennia as confirmed by Roman remains including an altar to Pluto and thermal baths.
Hammam Maskhoutine then appears with Hammam Salihine among the oldest baths in Algeria. The operation of Hammam Salihine located in the wilaya of Khenchela dates back more than 2000 years with an installation attributed to the Flavian emperors.
Translated by hope from https://www.thecasbahpost.com/la-legende-de-meskhoutine/
