Fürdőmúzeum, Bath history museum in Budapest District III, Hungary.
The Fürdőmúzeum is an exhibition hall of the Budapest History Museum in the pedestrian underpass at Flórián tér 3–5, showing the remains of the legionary camp's public baths (thermae). The bath building covered about 120 × 140 m at the crossing of the camp's two main roads, with a gymnasium, cold pool, sweat room and hot baths; the outlines of rooms, pools, water pipes, drains and underfloor heating are visible.
The bath was built in the 2nd century AD as the legionary camp's public bath, the largest building in the camp. It was almost completely destroyed in a war in 260; a stone inscription from 268 records its reconstruction under the name Thermae Maiores. In the 4th century the legion was moved and the building was converted into a palace. István Schönvisner first excavated part of it in 1778, and the museum opened in 1985 after the Flórián tér junction was rebuilt.
The bath was named Thermae Maiores, "Great Bath", in a stone inscription of 268 recording its rebuilding after destruction in 260. The altar stone itself went to the Aquincum Museum; a copy is shown here. Finds and panels trace the excavation history, from István Schönvisner's first dig in 1778 to the 2006 rescue excavation.
The entrance opens from the branch of the pedestrian underpass leading to Tavasz Street, not from Flórián Square itself. Two two-lane overpasses built between 1981 and 1984 for traffic between Szentendrei Road and Árpád Bridge shelter the ruins only partially from the weather. An information panel and a reconstructed drawing of the baths at the entrance help visitors find their way among the foundations.
The bath was first uncovered in 1778 by István Schönvisner; a sign at the entrance calls it Hungary's first archaeological excavation and monument. The altar stone naming the Thermae Maiores, found in 268, is a copy: the original is in the Aquincum Museum.
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