The Hammam al-Alil spa — historical baths near Mosul — has hosted an average of 200 people every day since its reopening in April. But this is still a far cry from its days of glory, when thousands of people came to the hot springs and the beautiful scenery around it every day.

The clientele, mostly locals and the soldiers in the region, pay an entry fee to the spa of 1,000 Iraqi dinars, about 85 US cents.

Hammam al-Alil, which literally means “bath of the ailing," is 21 miles (34 kilometers) south of Mosul. The town was liberated Nov. 5 from the control of the Islamic State (IS), which captured it in June 2014. After the liberation, the Iraqi fighters who liberated the town were the first to bathe in its hot springs, and photos of their doing so circulated in the media. Then, displaced people from Mosul and Iraqis from other parts of the country started flowing into the area to enjoy the spa’s sulfur springs, mud baths and the beautiful scenery without waiting for a full restoration of the spa and the town.

Before IS' occupation of the area, Hammam al-Alil spa was a major attraction for health tourism, with visitors coming from inside Iraq and abroad, according to the director of the Hammam al-Alil district, Khalaf al-Jabbouri.