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Hierapolis contained two city baths. The first and larger of the two is encountered today when one approaches the site. It is in quite a good state of preservation with its massive walls, some of its vaulted chambers, and even, here and there, examples of the marble facades still in place. The layout of the bath is typical of those of Asia Minor.
At the entrance is a large courtyard followed by an enclosed, rectangular area with large halls located on either side. This is followed by the bath proper in which a series of rooms with pools are arranged leading one into the next. The pool rooms have large, wide windows. The outer limits of the entrance courtyard have not yet been determined. The rectangular area was the bath's palaestra. The two large halls branching off from it, one to the north and the other to the south, were reserved for the emperor and for ceremonial use. The long hall stretching along the palaestra was undoubtedly used for athletics and gymnastic exercise. The caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium are roofed with vaults.
Heat was provided by furnaces. The central hall was heated by two of them from which hot air was conducted by pipes in the walls to the rooms. The sunlight coming through the big windows would also have provided additional warmth for the rooms and the pools.
The ruins of this bath complex are dated to the 2nd century. A small, vaulted room adjoining the main hall now does service as a museum.
In the early 3rd century, a second city bath was constructed at Hierapolis outside the northern gate. During the early Christian period (probably in the 5th century) this structure was converted to a church. There are indications that this bath was covered with barrel vaults that its rooms were faced with marble, and that the inner surfaces of the vaults were finished with stucco. |
