Medieval Washhouse in Cefalù
The Medieval Washhouse of Cefalù is one of the main monuments of the city. The well-known public wash house is located in Via Vittorio Emanuele at the late Renaissance Martino palace.
The current Medieval Wash House was built in 1514, in place of an older wash house, in a position further back from the city walls. The monument is characterized by its perfect state of conservation and, from an architectural point of view, by the strong Arab influence evidenced by the large pointed arch overlooking the area covered.
The wash house is accessed via a lava stone staircase called "a lumachella". This leads to a partially covered space, in which there are a series of tanks with twenty-two cast iron mouths, most of which are represented by lion heads, from which flows the water conveyed by the Cefalino river . The wash house represents an example of medieval hydraulic engineering and shows the simple but ingenious technique of conveying waste water which, conveyed through a small cave, flows directly into the sea.
An ancient popular legend .
