Complesso termale di Via Terracina

The bath complex in via Terracina, brought to light in 1939 during the construction of the Oltrenare Exhibition, is located at the junction of the ancient via Puteolis-Neapolim and a secondary road.

The multi-storey building, fed by the Serino aqueduct and built mainly in opus vittatum and latericium, dates back in its original layout to the first half of the 2nd century A.D.; however, it underwent numerous interventions over the course of time that modified the organisation of its spaces. Certainly posterior to the original nucleus are: the entrance corridor, in medieval times adapted as a cistern, some rooms perhaps identifiable as tabernae, and the latrine.

The latter, preceded by a small hallway with a barrel vault and the remains of an ablution basin, must have been covered by a semi-dome and had wall paintings, of which only a few traces remain today. Also poorly preserved is the floor decoration consisting of a black and white mosaic tile depicting two swimming dolphins and a fantastic sea animal. Lighting was provided by the five windows in the semicircular wall. Along the perimeter of the hemicycle runs the water drainage channel, continuously supplied by the cistern through underground ducts, above which were the perforated stone or marble seats.