The Baths of Caracalla

At the foot of the Aventine hill, in the south of Rome, near the Circus Maximus, the imposing ruins of the Baths of Caracalla let you discover the remains of what was one of the largest and richest bathing establishments of the Roman Empire, able to accommodate 1,600 people.

Address : Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 52

Opening hours : open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00. Closing times vary by season: from 1 to 28 March, closing at 17:30; from 29 March to 31 August at 19:15; from 1 to 30 September at 19:00; from 1 to 25 October at 18:30; and from 26 October to 28 February at 16:30.
Mondays: closed
Last entry about one hour before closing.

Ticket prices: €8 full price, free for under-18s and reduced price of €2 for young people aged 18 to 25 who are citizens of the European Union. Audioguide €5. Official website. You can buy your ticket online.

This immense complex of 11 hectares was commissioned by the emperor Septimius Severus, but the inauguration took place in 217 under the reign of his successor Caracalla. The complex was not limited to a simple bathing establishment but also included sports areas (palaestrae), libraries, doctors… All of this made the Baths of Caracalla a place of pleasure, meeting and business.

The ruins of the Baths of Caracalla are the best preserved in the Roman Empire and make it easy to picture the different zones of the baths. First a enclosed garden, surrounded by an almost square enclosure that contained the 64 cisterns of 80,000 litres each, fed by an aqueduct. From this garden one could reach the shops and restaurants, the stadium and of course the main building, the baths themselves.

Symmetrical in plan, the sides of the baths contained the changing rooms, the gymnasiums and the massage or medical examination rooms.

The centre of the building contained the classic succession of baths that went from the caldarium (the hottest) to the tepidarium (lukewarm) and finished in the largest hall, the frigidarium (cold).

Little remains today to recall the extraordinary richness of these baths.

The brick walls we see today were covered with marble, the floors with mosaics, and many statues were placed in niches.

The vaults of the immense halls were probably painted. After the baths closed in 537, when the Goths destroyed the aqueduct that fed them, the Baths of Caracalla became quarries for new buildings in the city. Thus Pope Paul III drew heavily on this reserve for the construction of the present St Peter's Basilica.

This pillaging also brought to light many statues such as the Bull and the Hercules of the Farnese collection in Naples. You will also find, in front of the French Embassy on Piazza Farnese, two large granite fountains from the Baths of Caracalla.

On site, a few mosaics nevertheless remain, with geometric patterns or representing small figures riding sea creatures.