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ROMAN THERMAL or public baths

2025-12-14 21:20:00, Kulturë CNA

Roman baths were popular social spaces found in all cities of the Roman Empire. They offered temperature-controlled rooms, swimming pools, and areas for reading and conversation. Although public baths also existed in Ancient Egypt and Greece, it was the Romans who created a standardized architecture, culminating in the great imperial baths of the 1st century AD.

This archaeological site of great importance for the city was only discovered in 1960, when construction began for the "Aleksandër Moisiu" Theater in the city center.

Archaeological excavations have confirmed that the construction of the baths dates back to the end of the 1st century to the beginning of the 2nd century AD, and it is thought that they were used until late antiquity, in the 5th-6th century AD. Most likely, the Roman baths in Durrës extended over an area larger than 700 square meters than what has been excavated and is known to us today, and were part of the gymnasium of the ancient city.

Despite the interventions that have caused the loss of some of the original elements and functions of the bathrooms, their design allows for the reconstruction of a complete image.

The Roman baths in Durrës follow the structure of the imperial baths, with three main components named according to their temperatures and functions: freigidarium (cold room) caldarium (hot room). Visitors enter through the dressing room (apodyterium), and then into the sweating room or sauna (caldarium) and then into the warm room (tepidarium). They continue to the so-called frigidarium, a cold-water pool that served as the final cooling station. Visitors often applied moisturizing oils after the ritual.

As a rule, men and women used these facilities separately from each other, but there were also cases when the baths were shared. This happened rarely and their use by women was allowed only to courtesans. This act was considered unacceptable by the people, mixed bathing was finally banned by the emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius.

Traces of the hypocaust can be seen in the Roman baths of Durrës. The caldarium features a checkerboard floor made of white and blue marble tiles, along with white thermal insulation tiles covering the walls. The last station of the baths is a cold water pool, located south of the tepidarium.

Several mosaics discovered during the excavation of modern buildings also date back to the Roman imperial period. The most famous is the mosaic depicting Eros riding mythological sea horses, the hippocampi.

The high artistic level and prosperity of Dyrrachium are also evidenced by the magnificent marble sculptures or altars.

We invite you to watch the video produced as part of the project "Come and get to know my city" supported by the Municipality of Durrës. /CNA