Terme Taurine, Archaeological site and museum in Civitavecchia, Italy.
Terme Taurine is a Roman bath complex on a hill about 4 km east of Civitavecchia. It has two separate bathing areas: the Republican baths, entered through an atrium with a star-and-diamond mosaic, and the larger Imperial baths, whose caldarium measures 23 by 9 metres. The site also has a museum and an Italian-style garden.
The baths were founded in 86 BC on a hill above the future port of Centumcellae, over sulphurous springs. Trajan and Hadrian expanded the complex between 123 and 136, and it stayed in use until the mid-6th century, when Gothic-Byzantine wars led to looting and the stripping of its marble. Pope Gregory the Great mentioned the baths in 593; excavation by the Papal States began in 1770.
Rutilio Namaziano, who visited in 416, records a legend that a bull scraped the ground before a fight and a hot sulphurous spring gushed out, giving the site its name. Today the archaeological area also hosts museum, music and art events.
Visitors can walk through the ruins on marked paths and explore the museum, which houses most of the artifacts and information. Comfortable walking shoes are recommended since the grounds are uneven and spread across several levels.
In the imperial calidarium, a 23 by 9 metre pool was fed with thermal water at 47°C, its floor raised on piers (suspensura) to keep the heat in. The window panes of the niches were fixed to wooden frames with molten lead. The Hadrianic phase is also marked by at least five individual latrines, as at Hadrian's Villa, perhaps reserved for VIPs.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,783 contributors worldwide.