: A Sacred Space of Purity and Community

While household mikva’ot existed in ancient times, public Jewish bathhouses began to appear during the Talmudic and medieval periods, especially in thriving Jewish communities across Babylonia, North Africa, and Europe. These bathhouses often combined both ritual immersion and communal bathing, functioning as centers of hygiene, spirituality, and social life.

One of the oldest preserved mikva’ot in Europe is located in Speyer, Germany, dating to the 12th century CE. Built underground from stone and still intact today, it served the Jewish community of the medieval Rhineland and is considered one of the oldest surviving ritual bathhouses in Europe.

June 21, 2025 | 5:49 pm