Terme romane

In the south-western corner of Velia, at the foot of the acropolis hill, the Roman baths make a quiet but emphatic statement about civic life. The site was already associated with water management before the bathhouse was built: a cistern-well near the south-eastern corner and another in the northern service courtyard attest to earlier hydraulic use.

The complex, trapezoidal and covering some 1,100 square metres, is constructed in opus vittatum of sandstone and brick. Its heart comprises the frigidarium and the heated rooms; the latter still retain their wall tubuli, the hollow terracotta pipes that circulated hot air. The entrance, on the eastern side, is reached by a sandstone basoli landing. In the tepidarium, frigidarium and several other chambers, traces of plaster from marble facing slabs survive. Fourth-century AD modifications are visible in pebble-work masonry, while the vestibule was narrowed in the same period by two piers. The atrium, at 8.7 by 4.4 metres, retains its brick-framed doorway, though the arch has collapsed.

Description via source. Coordinates and heritage data from the Atika atlas.