Scholastikia thermal baths
The Scholastikia-Thermen , also Varius-Bad , were a public bathing establishment ( thermal baths ) in Ephesus in the west of today's Turkey. They were built in the first half of the 2nd century AD.
The thermal baths, built by Publius Quintilius Valens Varius and originally named after him, are only separated from the latter by Hadrian's temple, on Kuretenstrasse , one of the most important boulevards of Ephesus. Of what was once a three-storey building, one of the largest in Ephesus, only remnants of the ground floor have survived. Access was through the main entrance on Kuretenstrasse; in the east one could also get to the side entrance via a staircase in Badgasse. Both paths led to the apodyterium , an L-shaped hall with ten niches and an apse , from which one could presumably see the Kuretenstrasse. There were numerous statues inside this room. Today you can only find the headless statue of Scholastica, a wealthy Christian citizen of Ephesus, in a niche to the left of the side entrance, who donated part of her property to the renovation of the thermal baths in the 4th century, which is why they still bear her name today.
From the changing room one reached a public toilet via the originally covered Akademiegasse. In the middle was a square basin with a column at each of the four corners. The toilets themselves, under which a sewer with running water disposed of the faeces, were covered. In front of the bench there was a groove running around the floor with clear water that could be used for cleaning.
To the west of the apodyterium was the frigidarium with an elliptical cold basin, on the north side the tepidarium for warming up . The clay pipes built into the floor and walls provided the necessary hot air circulation. A small remnant of the original colored marble flooring has been preserved in one corner of the room ; the remaining floor dates from around 400.
A narrow door leads from the tepidarium into the caldarium . Here the walls are still at their original height, but the wall cladding comes from different eras. Under the floor of this room was the boiler that supplied the entire system with warm water and hot air. The associated hypocaust is well preserved.
gallery
inside view
Statue of Scholastikia
Toilet facility
literature
- Peter Scherrer (Ed.): Ephesos. The new leader. Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-900-30519-6 , p. 122.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Inscriptions from Ephesus 500 .
- ↑ Inscriptions from Ephesos 672 and 3080 : ἐν τῷ Οὐαρίῳ βαλανείῳ “in the varic bath / bath of Varius”.
- ↑ Inscriptions from Ephesus 453 . For the reused statue see Volker Michael Strocka : Too much honor for Scholastikia. In: Living ancient science. Commemoration for the completion of the 70th year of life of Hermann Vetters. Vienna 1985, pp. 229-232.
Coordinates: 37 ° 56 ′ 19.5 ″ N , 27 ° 20 ′ 31.1 ″ E