Baths of Caracalla
Located at Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Roma, Italy the red-brick ruins of the Baths of Caracalla are situated southeast of ancient Rome's center. The baths were enormous buildings, with huge frescoed vaults covering the massive rooms. This huge eleven hectare (27 acre) large complex housed bathing facilities that could accommodate more than 1,600 people at a time. In total the baths welcomed between 6,000 and 8,000 visitors each day.Construction of the Baths of Caracalla started in 212 AD and the complex was completed five years later. It was built during the reign of Emperor Caracalla whose official name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, hence the original name of the baths, Thermae Antoninianae.
At a time when Rome's crowded tenements had few sanitary facilities, the more than fifty public baths in Imperial Rome played an important part in Roman society. Not only did it improve the cleanliness and health of its citizens, but the thermae were also places where Romans came to socialize, gossip and relax. The ritual of bathing was a long process, starting with a hot bath in the calidarium. Next up was the lukewarm tepidarium, followed by the cold frigidarium. Then followed a swim in the natatio, an open air swimming pool.The Baths of Caracalla served as the new "ideal" for Roman baths. It could hold over 1,600 people and it allowed the Romans a new place to go. It was one of the grandest and most elaborately decorated buildings within the city limits of Rome and was a place to take visitors to in order to show off the capital. It was also the last major building project undertook in Rome until nearly one hundred years later. The Romans loved these Baths and frequented them often. As a majority of the major imperial bath complexes have not survived to this day, the Baths of Caracalla give archaeologists a unique view of what the bath complex would have looked like when it was first made. Other bath complexes have been torn down or remodeled in Medieval times into churches, leaving only the Baths of Caracalla as a reminder of the once great bath complexes that dotted the city of Rome. This allows for an excellent area and excavation site to study the architecture, sculpture, and mosaics from the early 3rd Century AD, as the Baths are now conserved and maintained by the city of Rome's archaeology department.
At a time when Rome's crowded tenements had few sanitary facilities, the more than fifty public baths in Imperial Rome played an important part in Roman society. Not only did it improve the cleanliness and health of its citizens, but the thermae were also places where Romans came to socialize, gossip and relax. The ritual of bathing was a long process, starting with a hot bath in the calidarium. Next up was the lukewarm tepidarium, followed by the cold frigidarium. Then followed a swim in the natatio, an open air swimming pool.The Baths of Caracalla served as the new "ideal" for Roman baths. It could hold over 1,600 people and it allowed the Romans a new place to go. It was one of the grandest and most elaborately decorated buildings within the city limits of Rome and was a place to take visitors to in order to show off the capital. It was also the last major building project undertook in Rome until nearly one hundred years later. The Romans loved these Baths and frequented them often. As a majority of the major imperial bath complexes have not survived to this day, the Baths of Caracalla give archaeologists a unique view of what the bath complex would have looked like when it was first made. Other bath complexes have been torn down or remodeled in Medieval times into churches, leaving only the Baths of Caracalla as a reminder of the once great bath complexes that dotted the city of Rome. This allows for an excellent area and excavation site to study the architecture, sculpture, and mosaics from the early 3rd Century AD, as the Baths are now conserved and maintained by the city of Rome's archaeology department.