Baths of Caracalla – detailed video tour from “History in 3D”

The Baths of Caracalla were one of the most grandiose structures of ancient Rome, and were rightfully considered one of the wonders of the Eternal City. In terms of the luxury of decoration, they were more reminiscent of the imperial palace, only they were available to the entire population.

The southern facade of the baths main building. The caldarium (hot baths) rotunda is in the center

Opened in 216 AD, they functioned for over 300 years, until the aqueducts that supplied Rome with water were cut. Baths were a multifunctional complex. In addition to swimming, they went in for sports, walking, reading in libraries, and just had fun. A resident of Rome could spend most of his day in the baths.

So-called ‘palaesta’, but most likely it was a basilica with monumental reliefs, rephesenting the glory of Severan dynasty

The baths were not only luxuriously decorated, but also served as a collection of famous works of art. Dozens of sculptures were found here during excavations and went to various museums.

Coloured statue of Bacchus in the main hall

As part of our project, we have created a detailed reconstruction of the entire thermal complex of Caracalla, both outside and inside. Today we are already presenting version 2.0, in which many corrections have been made, many architectural elements have been worked out in more detail, the real types of the surviving marbles, as well as sculptures, etc. have been taken into account.

Caldarium hall (hot baths), interior view

We invite you to a video tour of the baths, look into its halls, stroll around the garden. In 13 minutes you can get an idea of ​​what this outstanding structure originally looked like:

2 Comments

I totally agree. This is awesome, eye and mind-opening, inspiring work. So glad I found it. Thank-you for making it available, and for free! Will follow avidly.

Leave a Reply