Roman Baths and Open Air Museum, Archaeological site in Altındağ, Ankara, Turkey
The Roman Baths and Open Air Museum displays extensive ruins of a third-century bath complex built during Emperor Caracalla's reign, featuring hot and cold bathing rooms, a large exercise courtyard surrounded by marble columns, and advanced heating systems that demonstrate sophisticated Roman engineering techniques.
Excavations beginning in 1931 revealed foundations of the baths constructed around 212 to 217 CE on a mound containing earlier Phrygian period traces, with the complex connected by a colonnaded street to the nearby temple of Roma and Augustus approximately 1,300 feet away.
The bath complex served as a major social center where citizens gathered for exercise, relaxation, bathing, and cultural activities including lectures and library use, with inscriptions and artifacts revealing the diverse religious practices and social structure of ancient Ankara's population.
Located at Çankırı Cd. No:43 in the Altındağ district near Ulus Square, the site is open daily from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with an on-site lapidarium displaying over 1,000 artifacts including tombstones, inscriptions, sculptures, and architectural fragments from Roman and Byzantine periods.
A discovered marble hand bearing a snake symbol links the bath complex to the cult of Asklepios, the god of medicine, suggesting the facility functioned not only as a social venue but also as a healing center for ancient residents.
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