A luxurious 2,000-year-old bath has been uncovered in new excavations in Pompeii

The ancient Roman city of Pompeii, buried by ash and lava in 79 AD, has unveiled a new treasure: a private bathhouse built 2,000 years ago, decorated with lavish mosaics and equipped with a series of hot, warm and cold rooms in the style of… a spa.

“Here we have perhaps the largest thermal complex in a private house in Pompeii,” said Gabriel Zutschriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park. “Members of Pompeii’s ruling class created enormous spaces in their homes to host banquets.

“It was their job to create consensus, promote an election campaign and close deals. It was an opportunity to show the wealth in which they lived and also to get a nice thermal treatment,” he said.

The baths were discovered in the so-called Reggio IX, a large central area of ​​Pompeii’s park that remains unexplored, where major archaeological excavations are revealing new aspects of the daily life of Pompeii’s inhabitants.

Zutstrigel said the design recalls scenes from the Roman novel SatyriconBanquets and baths were central to displaying wealth and status.

Watch | Inside one of the largest private baths in Pompeii:

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000-year-old pigeon in excavations at Pompeii

Excavations at Pompeii revealed one of the largest private bath complexes to be found in the city, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The complex contains a private residence attached to a celebration hall, in addition to a private bathroom.

More recently, archaeologists working in the same area found a bakery, a laundromat, two villas and the bones of three people who died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

At the time of the eruption, Pompeii was home to about 13,000 people. The ruins of the city are located about 23 kilometers southeast of Naples, and the remains of more than 1,000 victims have been found during excavations over the years.

The remains of two people were found in excavations

Photographs from the excavation site show dusty walls decorated with colorful stripes or blocks of red, black or yellow, and a large rectangular bath, complete with what looks like curved stone steps or benches in the corner of the bath itself.

Pompeii’s wealthy residents often bathed first and then held a banquet, so the private spa complex allowed them to do so within the same house, Zochtregel said.

“There is room for about 30 people who can do the whole routine, and it can also be done in public bathrooms. So there is a calidarium, which is a very warm environment and also a large bathtub with cold water,” he said.

The private dwelling that housed the bathroom contains another discovery by archaeologists: the remains of two people, a woman between 35 and 50 years old who held jewelry and coins, and a younger man.