Campo Valdés Roman baths

Campo Valdés Roman baths
Native name
Termas romanas de Campo Valdés (Spanish)
Interior of the site
LocationGijón, Asturias, Spain
Coordinates43°32′44″N 5°39′40″W / 43.54556°N 5.66111°W / 43.54556; -5.66111
Built1st century A.D.
Visitors113,004 (in 2023)

The Campo Valdés Roman baths were public baths constructed in Gijón, Spain, near the end of the first century. They fell out of use in the fourth century before being used as a necropolis and covered by a plaza. In 1903, during the construction of a sewer system in the area, the baths were rediscovered and excavated. The site of the baths was turned into a museum, which opened in March 1995. The site was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural in 1987, and the museum was Gijón's most visited in 2023.

History

The public baths were constructed in Cimadevilla[1] near the end of the first century A.D., during the Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula.[2][3] It used the hypocaust system of heating, and contained a sudatorium, apodyterium, frigidarium, tepidarium, and caldarium.[1] The site gradually expanded until it fell out of use in the fourth century.[2][3] In the Middle Ages, it was used as a necropolis, and in the 19th century, a plaza was constructed over the buried baths.[1][2]

During the construction of a sewer system in the area in March 1903, the then-forgotten baths were rediscovered.[4] Locals Calixto Alvargonzález Landeau and Julio Somoza led the excavation efforts.[2][4] Three years after the excavation, Alvargonzález wrote a detailed monograph describing at great length the uncovered structure, materials, and artifacts; the monograph was not published until 1965, 55 years after his death.[4] In 1987, the baths were declared a Bien de Interés Cultural; three years later, a team led by archeologists Carmen Fernández Ochoa and Paloma García Díaz carried out further excavation and restoration on the site.[3][5]

Museum

Following the secondary excavations, the site of the baths was converted into an underground museum, which opened in March 1995.[2] The museum is split into two sections, an "informative zone" and "archeologic zone".[5] The archeologic zone allows visitors to walk along a catwalk through the separate rooms of the old bathhouse. Artifacts found on the site, a sarcophagus, and placards and models detailing the baths' history are on display in the informative zone.[1][5] In 2023, 113,004 people passed through the museum, making it Gijón's most visited that year.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Museo Termas Romanas de Campo Valdés" [Museum of the Campo Valdés Roman Baths]. Gijón (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 June 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Fernández Ochoa, Carmen; García Díaz, Paloma (22 December 2017). "El Museo de las Termas Romanas de Campo Valdés (Gijón)" [Museum of the Campo Valdés Roman Baths (Gijón)] (PDF). Boletín del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (in Spanish). 35 (2017): 617–622. ISSN 2341-3409. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Margolles Beran, Arantxa (17 July 2023). "Las Termas, a tres pesetas" [The baths for three pesetas]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 25 July 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Granda, Javier (13 June 2009). "Las termas romanas del Campo Valdés" [The Roman baths of Campo Valdés]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Termas Romanas de Campo Valdés" [Campo Valdés Roman baths] (PDF). Xixón Cultura y Educación (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  6. ^ "Los Museos de Gijón/Xixón incrementa sus visitas en un 8% con respecto al año 2022, convirtiéndose el año 2023 en el de mayor número de afluencia de toda su historia, con un total de 436.792 visitantes" [The Museums of Gijón/Xixón increased their visits by 8% compared to 2022, making 2023 the busiest year in their history, with a total of 436,792 visitors]. Gijón (in Spanish). 22 January 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2024.