5. Terme Stabiane

One of the major site in Pompeii - Terme Stabiane ("The Stabian Baths"). It received its modern name by Via Stabiana it is located on. It′s the oldest and the largest (3,500 sq. m) of the 5 public baths in the city.

The central courtyard, surrounded on three sides by a colonnade (peristylum), functioned as a gymnasium, as in "a workout area". We saw the same setup in the Terme Suburbane. The idea is that you do your exercises and then go freshen yourself in the baths.

On one side of the courtyard is a 1.5m-deep swimming pool, which is to the right of this building. It didn′t make the frame, because there is nothing there anymore, just a hole in the ground.

And this building itself is nymphaeum, the water nymphs′ shrine with a fountain, like the one we saw in the Suburban Baths again. Note very intricate decorations on the wall of nymphaeum.

Here it is, more pronounced, so to speak.

At the end of this colonnade on the right side of peristylium (the court yard) is the bowling alley. Well, they′ve found a few bowling balls in there, so let′s just assume.

The bath complex was divided into two sections - men′s and women′s.

This is the colonnade of the women′s section.

And this is the men′s.

Not much difference, eh?

Under the "women′s" colonnade there are two side-rooms, which purpose we don′t know.

Apodyterium, a changing room before entering the baths. Those niches in the wall acted like lockers - that′s where the patrons would leave their clothes.

Caldarium (hot bath) was heated by that round stove.

The floor was also heated by the warm air circulating under the flooring, which was supported by terracotta pillars called hypocaustum. The location of each pillar is indicated now by a little stack of slabs.

The remaining hypocaustum with the flooring they were supporting. As you can see, they were pretty high, providing quite a big crawl space.

Frigidarium (cold bath) was round in shape with four corner niches and a pool in the centre.

Frigidarium with its pool of cool water would be the last in the succession of bath halls, so this area was more for socializing and relaxing than bathing. Again, like in Terme Suburbane. That′s why its walls were richly decorated with frescoes.

Frigidarium is covered by a domed roof with the hole in the middle, to provide light and remove excessive moisture from the air.

A lead pipe inside the wall, for delivering water to the baths. A very rare sight in today′s Pompeii. After the eruption, people who lived nearby and survived, started plundering the site right away, looting everything of value. Since lead was very expensive, lead pipes would be one of the first things to go. Speaking of lead pipes - they were probably the reason that almost all Roman emperors were stark raving mad. Lead has chemicals that literally drive people crazy, and the Romans had no idea. So rich people, who would have their water delivered to them through the lead pipes all the way, where the most susceptible. Whereas common folk, who would get their water from the street fountains, would be better off. Call it the Universe′s ultimate justice, if you will.

An exhibit inside the Terme Stabiane - a plaster cast of a young girl, who obviously died choking on the volcanic ash.

The bodies of the people who died in the ash, would eventually decompose, leaving hollow cavities within the 6-7-meter layer of ash. In 1870, a scientist Giuseppe Fiorelli realized that, and came up with a unique technique. They would literally knock on the hardened ash under their feet, find a place where the sound was hollow, drill a hole, and fill the cavity with liquid plaster. After the plaster have hardened, they would dig out the complete cast of the body.

This one was most probably a slave girl, judging by the girdle around her waist (to chain her to the wall), and the think, obviously cheap material of her dress (probably, wool).

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