Area archeologica del Complesso di Santa Chiara

The bath complex, which is situated within the 14th-century monastery attached to the Church of St Clare, is located in an area that fell outside the city walls, to the west of the city gate of the Greco-Roman city.

The discovery of the building and the subsequent analysis of both old and new archaeological finds have enabled us to gain a clearer understanding of how the site came to be, as early as the 1st century AD, and remained so until at least the 4th century AD, a residential area with buildings of a public character. Following the extension of the city walls in 440 AD, the complex was incorporated into the defensive structure. It retained its thermal function until the end of the Roman era, when it underwent a significant renovation.

The archaeological area includes a series of thermal baths and still represents the most complete example of thermae documented in Neapolis. The facility, which covers an area of over 900 square metres, can be placed chronologically between the middle and the end of the 1st century AD. The building probably had its main access on the ancient road axis (decumanus), traced by today's Via Benedetto Croce, and was divided into two parallel sectors: that of the swimming pool, probably facing a courtyard with the function of a gymnasium, and that of the baths proper.

Of the ancient gymnasium, only a few traces of the perimeter wall of the porticoed area and a corridor that divided the gymnasium itself from the pool are visible today; of the latter, initially covered, the remains of the dock and the access stairs are preserved. On the southern side of the excavation, an octagonal pool, dating back to a later period, was implanted in a room that probably originally formed the access to the pool. On the western side is also a water conduit, possibly part of a larger conduit derived from the Serino aqueduct.
The thermal baths are comprised of two levels, one of which is subterranean. In the central room on the ground floor, the laconicum (for hot and dry air baths), connected to the tepidaria (for baths at medium-hot temperatures), exhibits clear evidence of ducting. These include the tubuli, which facilitated the passage of hot air, and some hollow columns (suspensurae), which supported the floor and were suspended on the hypocaust. In the northern area of the excavation, a room that was subsequently transformed into a cistern has been identified. Given its orientation towards the north, it may have been used as a frigidarium (for cold water baths) or a nymphaeum. Finally, located behind the southern wall is a vestibule, which provided access to the hypogean level.

A number of artefacts unearthed during the excavation of the thermal building are on display in one of the rooms of the Museo dell'Opera di Santa Chiara, accompanied by the remains of sculptural furnishings and objects of common use and sacred art recovered from the Angevin-era church (14th century), its cloister and monastery, which survived the fire that destroyed the monumental complex in 1943. The Museum was inaugurated in 1995 in some rooms of the monastery, which were originally occupied by the nuns' flats. It has the objective of narrating the history of the construction and the historical and artistic evolution of the Franciscan citadel.