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Baths of Caracalla

 
Baths of Caracalla

 
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The Baths of Caracalla were Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 public baths, or thermae
Thermae

The terms balnea or thermae were the words the Ancient Rome used for the buildings housing their public baths.Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centers of public bathing and socialization....
, built in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction.

The bath complex covered approximately 13 hectares (33 ac).






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Bathsofcaracalla
The Baths of Caracalla were Roman
Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
 public baths, or thermae
Thermae

The terms balnea or thermae were the words the Ancient Rome used for the buildings housing their public baths.Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centers of public bathing and socialization....
, built in Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 between AD 212 and 216, during the reign of the Emperor Caracalla
Caracalla

Caracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 – 217....
. The extensive ruins of the baths have become a popular tourist attraction.

The bath complex covered approximately 13 hectares (33 ac). The bath building was 228 meters (750 ft) long, 116 meters (380 ft) wide and 38.5 meters (125 ft) estimated height, and could hold an estimated 1,600 bathers.

The Caracalla bath complex of buildings was more a leisure centre than just a series of baths. The "baths" were the second to have a public library
Library

A library is a collection of information, sources, resources, books, and services, and the structure in which it is housed: it is organized for use and maintained by a public body, an institution, or a private individual....
 within the complex. Like other public libraries in Rome, there were two separate and equal sized rooms or buildings; one for Greek language
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 texts and one for Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 language texts.

The baths consisted of a central 55.7 by 24 meter (183x79 ft) frigidarium
Frigidarium

A frigidarium is a large cold pool to drop into after enjoying a hot Thermae. The Caldarium and the Tepidarium opened the pores of the skin. The cold water would close the pores....
 (cold room) under three 32.9 meter (108 ft) high groin vault
Groin vault

A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf....
s, a double pool tepidarium
Tepidarium

The tepidarium was the warm bathroom of the thermae heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system.The specialty of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from the walls and floor....
 (medium), and a 35 meter (115 ft) diameter caldarium
Caldarium

A Caldarium was a room with a hot plunge bath, used in a Roman bath complex.This was a very hot and steamy room heated by a hypocaust, an underfloor heating system....
 (hot room), as well as two palaestra
Palaestra

The palaestra was the History of Ancient Greece wrestling school. The events that did not require a lot of space, such as boxing and Amateur wrestling, were practiced there....
s (gyms where wrestling and boxing was practiced). The north end of the bath building contained a natatio or swimming pool. The natatio was roofless with bronze mirrors mounted overhead to direct sunlight into the pool area. The entire bath building was on a 6 meter (20 ft) high raised platform to allow for storage and furnaces under the building.

The libraries were located in exedrae
Exedra

In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess, often crowned by a half-dome, which is usually set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical conversation....
 on the east and west sides of the bath complex. The entire north wall of the complex was devoted to shops. The reservoirs on the south wall of the complex were fed with water from the Marcian Aqueduct
Aqua Marcia

The Aqua Marcia was the longest of the 11 aqueduct that supplied the city of ancient Rome. It still functions today as one of the major water sources to the modern city of Rome....
.

Caracalla Grundriss
Principal dimensions
Precinct maximum: 412x393M
Internal: 323x323M
Central Block overall: 218x112M
Swimming Pool: 54x23M
Frigidarium: 59x24M height c. 41M
Caldarium: 35M diameter height c. 44M
Internal courts: 67x29M


Quantities of materials
Pozzolanna: 341,000 Cu. M
Quick lime: 35,000 Cu. M
Tufa:341,000 Cu. M
Basalt for foundations: 150,000 Cu. M
Brick pieces for facing: 17.5 million
Large Bricks:520,000
Marble columns in Central block: 252
Marble for columns and decorations: 6,300 Cu. M


Estimated average labour figures on site
Excavation: 5,200 men
Substructure: 9,500 men
Central Block: 4,500 men
Decoration: 1,800 men


One of many statues is the colossal 4M (15ft.) statue of Aesclepius. The 12M (40 ft.) columns of the frigidarium were made of granite and they weighed close to 100 tonnes. Chris Scarre provides a slightly longer construction period 211-217 CE.
They would have had to install over 2,000 tons of material every day for 6 years in order to complete it in this time period. Records show that the idea for the baths were drawn up by Septimius Severus, and merely completed or opened in the lifetime of Caracalla. This would allow for a longer construction time frame.

The building was heated by a hypocaust
Hypocaust

A 'hypocaust' is an ancient Rome system of central heating. The word literally means "heat from below", from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning below or underneath, and kaiein, to burn or light a fire....
, a system of burning coal and wood underneath the ground to heat water provided by a dedicated aqueduct. It was in use up to the 19th century.

In the early 20th century, the design of the baths was used as the inspiration for several modern structures, including Pennsylvania Station
Pennsylvania Station (New York City)

Pennsylvania Station—commonly known as Penn Station—is the major intercity train station and a major commuter rail hub in New York City....
 in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
, USA and National Assembly Building
Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban

Jatiyo Sangsad Bhaban is the Jatiyo Sangshad Building of Bangladesh, located in the capital Dhaka. It was created by architect Louis I. Kahn and is one of the largest legislative complexes in the world....
 in Dhaka
Dhaka

Dhaka ? formerly Dacca and Jahangir Nagar, is the Capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka District. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia....
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh

, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south....
.

Roma Terme Di Caracalla2
The baths are open to the public for an admission fee of 6 Euros, which does not apply to students or pensioners from the EU. Access is limited to certain areas to avoid damage to the mosaic floors, although such damage is already clearly visible. Also, a total of 22 well-preserved columns from the ruins are found in the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere
Santa Maria in Trastevere

The Basilica of Our Lady's in Trastevere is a titular minor basilica, one of the oldest Churches of Rome Rome, perhaps the first in which mass was openly celebrated....
, taken there in the 12th century.

See also

  • List of Roman domes
    List of Roman domes

    This is a List of Roman domes. The Ancient Rome were the first builder in the history of architecture to relise the potential of domes for the creation of large and well-defined interior spaces....
  • List of megalithic sites
    List of megalithic sites

    This is a list of ancient sites that moved megalithic stones, organized according to the size of the largest megalith on the site. A megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones....


External links

  • Take the video tour and see the Flash presentation on the Baths. Also see the Video Gallery for a short movie on the Baths.
  • Virtual 360° panorama and photos of the ruins.