The town's oldest baths complex opens onto Via dell'Abbondanza at the corner of Via Stabiana not far from the Forum and probably dates from the 2nd century B.C..The establishment covers a total surface area of over 3,500 square metres and is divided into two adjacent sections respectively reserved for men and women and includes a courtyard which was used as a gymnasium.
Three sides of the courtyard have colonnades with stuccoed tuff-stone pillars, while the fourth side borders onto a large swimming-pool one and a half metres deep. Separated from the gymnasium by a low wall, the latter could be reached from two side-rooms where the bathers would probably get changed for the bathing rite. After the earthquake of 62 A.D. the swimming-pool area was embellished with elegant coloured stucco decorations which enclose a number of panels depicting mythological figures and athletes.
Only a few bathing chambers were annexed to the gymnasium to the north. The other rooms were later turned into a large lavatory situated at the rear of the apartment belonging to the manager of the baths. The bathing establishment proper occupies the longer side of the Peristyle. A door in the right-hand corner of the colonnade leads to the men's section. The first room on the left is a chamber for cold baths (Frigidarium), which is round in shape with four corner niches and a pool in the centre. The water used to feed the pool flowed from another niche in the north-facing wall. The fact that this room came before the one where the bathers undressed may suggest that it was actually used as a laconicum, i.e. a steam room in which the air was heated by means of bronze braziers.
From the entrance hall the bather entered the changing room (Apodyterium), which is plastered in white except for a red band running all round the lower half of the walls; the vault has stucco decorations in various colours. The next room is the Tepidarium, in which warm baths were taken. It was heated by hot air which circulated under the floor (between small terra-cotta pillars called Suspensurae) and - as can be seen in the areas where work was in progress at the time of the eruption - through cavities in the walls themselves.
The room that follows is the Calidarium where the tub on the right-hand side was used for hot baths. Above the bath we can see three niches which contained statues while the marble basin situated along the apsidal wall contained cold water which the bathers used to cool off while in that intensely heated room. The fires for heating both the water and the air needed for the two sections of the bathing complex were situated behind the Calidarium wall. Walking along the gymnasium colonnade, we reach the entrance door to the women's section. Here the rooms follow one another in the same sequence as in the men's section, but as there is no Frigidarium, the bathers would pass directly from the changing room into the Tepidarium and from there to the Calidarium which contained a number of bronze tubs for individual baths.
The town's oldest baths complex opens onto Via dell'Abbondanza at the corner of Via Stabiana not far from the Forum and probably dates from the 2nd century B.C..The establishment covers a total surface area of over 3,500 square metres and is divided into two adjacent sections respectively reserved for men and women and includes a courtyard which was used as a gymnasium.
Three sides of the courtyard have colonnades with stuccoed tuff-stone pillars, while the fourth side borders onto a large swimming-pool one and a half metres deep. Separated from the gymnasium by a low wall, the latter could be reached from two side-rooms where the bathers would probably get changed for the bathing rite. After the earthquake of 62 A.D. the swimming-pool area was embellished with elegant coloured stucco decorations which enclose a number of panels depicting mythological figures and athletes.
Only a few bathing chambers were annexed to the gymnasium to the north. The other rooms were later turned into a large lavatory situated at the rear of the apartment belonging to the manager of the baths. The bathing establishment proper occupies the longer side of the Peristyle. A door in the right-hand corner of the colonnade leads to the men's section. The first room on the left is a chamber for cold baths (Frigidarium), which is round in shape with four corner niches and a pool in the centre. The water used to feed the pool flowed from another niche in the north-facing wall. The fact that this room came before the one where the bathers undressed may suggest that it was actually used as a laconicum, i.e. a steam room in which the air was heated by means of bronze braziers.
From the entrance hall the bather entered the changing room (Apodyterium), which is plastered in white except for a red band running all round the lower half of the walls; the vault has stucco decorations in various colours. The next room is the Tepidarium, in which warm baths were taken. It was heated by hot air which circulated under the floor (between small terra-cotta pillars called Suspensurae) and - as can be seen in the areas where work was in progress at the time of the eruption - through cavities in the walls themselves.
The room that follows is the Calidarium where the tub on the right-hand side was used for hot baths. Above the bath we can see three niches which contained statues while the marble basin situated along the apsidal wall contained cold water which the bathers used to cool off while in that intensely heated room. The fires for heating both the water and the air needed for the two sections of the bathing complex were situated behind the Calidarium wall. Walking along the gymnasium colonnade, we reach the entrance door to the women's section. Here the rooms follow one another in the same sequence as in the men's section, but as there is no Frigidarium, the bathers would pass directly from the changing room into the Tepidarium and from there to the Calidarium which contained a number of bronze tubs for individual baths.
Gallery 7