Roman bath in Weißenburg in Bayern, Roman thermal bath complex in Weißenburg in Bayern, Germany
The Roman bath in Weißenburg, also called the Great Baths, lies at the edge of the modern town on the site of the Roman camp and vicus Biriciana. The ruins, discovered in 1977, are sheltered under a tent-shaped protective roof and can be explored on a fixed circular path. The complex measures 65 by 42.5 metres and shows three building phases, with remains of a caldarium, two tepidaria, a round sudatorium, frigidaria, a palaestra-basilica and a field smithy.
The bathing complex was discovered during excavations in 1977 and formed part of the Roman military camp Biriciana. The camp was established to guard and control the northern frontier of the Roman province of Raetia.
The baths served as a meeting place where soldiers and residents came together to bathe, exercise, and spend time socializing. You can still sense how central this building was to the social life of the Roman community.
The site is easily reached via a direct path and the protective roof means you can visit in any season without worrying about rain. The remains are straightforward to explore on your own, as the foundations and structures are clearly laid out.
The bath's heating system was fired day and night, because reheating a cooled building took several days; estimates suggest about one hectare of woodland was cleared each year to keep it running. The site also had glass windows and walls decorated with paintings.
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