Greek baths of Gela, Archaeological site with ancient baths in Gela, Italy.

The Greek Baths of Gela are a Hellenistic bathing complex of two rooms, found in 1957 near Via Europa in the Capo Soprano district. Room 1 holds a horseshoe group of fourteen seat-tubs, twelve surviving, cut into a conglomerate of terracotta sherds and sandstone rubble, plus a circle of twenty-two damaged tubs. Room 2, to the east, preserves a hypocaust: a small firing chamber with two corridors once carried a heated floor, likely a sauna.

The complex dates to the Hellenistic period and came to light through excavations in 1957. It was destroyed in 282 BC when Phintias conquered the city.

The site's name comes from the Greek word for baths, and the complex is the oldest public bathhouse found in Italy, predating all but Olympia and perhaps Colophon. Visitors can see the horseshoe arrangement of tubs and the circular group of 22, evidence of how bathers sat together. The 2012 discovery of a second, more refined bathhouse with a mosaic of a Nereid on a ketos nearby suggests separate facilities for wealthier clients.

Visits are best during daylight hours so you can see the structures and details clearly. Watch for uneven ground and allow time to explore the different rooms at a comfortable pace.

Room 2 preserves the oldest surviving hypocaust in any Greek bath found so far: a small firing chamber with two underground corridors heated the floor of the room above, likely used as a sauna. The floor rested on the walls of the heating complex rather than on circulating water.