Terme di Diocleziano

The Terme di Diocleziano are the largest spa's or thermal baths in Rome as they were of ancient Rome.

They were inaugurated in 306, after the abdication of Massimiliano and Diocleziano.

Thery are situated on the Viminale hillside and are so majestic that the semi-circle of columns in Piazza della Repubblica reproposes the same esedra semi-cycle of the spa.

In the V century it has 2400 baths and was alimented by a water course called Acqua Marcia.

The tepidarium was transformed into a church by Pio IV who commissioned the great Michelangelo so as to glorify the Basilica, hiding in this way Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri. However, it was further modified by Vanvitelli transforming the entrance into calidarium.

The vaults of the tarnsept in the Basilica are but a few of the examples of the original splendour of antique Roman buildings.

The numerous stockrooms within the spa had different functions: prison, hospital, and the octagonal room which is presently one of the sites of the National Roman Museum.