Baths of Fordongianus, Roman thermal baths in Fordongianus, Sardinia

The Baths of Fordongianus stand on the left bank of the Tirso, made up of two bathing facilities. The 1st-century building is opus quadratum trachyte blocks around a natatio of 13 by 6.5 m and 1.5 m deep, fed by a panther-head spout; only one side of its portico survives. The 3rd-century block, 30 by 12 m, held apodyterium, frigidarium, tepidarium and calidarium.

The site was already known to Ptolemy around 170 AD as Aquae Ypsitanae, and later appears in the Antonine Itinerary as Forum Traiani, a name and municipal status given under Trajan. The bath buildings themselves are dated by their masonry techniques to the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. Giuseppe Manno located the ruins in 1825, and Antonio Taramelli directed the first regular excavations between 1899 and 1902.

The name Forum Traiani was given under Emperor Trajan, when the settlement changed from colony to city with municipal status. Near the main pool, excavations brought to light a nymphaeum, a basin dedicated to the cult of the nymphs, confirmed by an inscription dedicated to them.

The site lies just outside the village of Fordongianus, on the left bank of the Tirso. The two bathing halls stand close together, the 1st-century natatio block north of the 3rd-century heated rooms, with the paved forum square in front. The ground is uneven ruin and rubble, so wear sturdy shoes and watch your step.

The water still leaves the pool through a sculpted panther-head spout, whose mouth has poured it since antiquity. Bronze sluices once mixed the 54 °C spring water with cold water from upstream tanks to set the bathing temperature.