24 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Huge Ancient Roman Public Baths in ‘Excellent’ State Discovered in Augusta Emerita

In Mérida, Spain, archaeologists have discovered a “massive” Roman bathing site in “excellent” condition. The discovery was found in the city of Mérida while excavating inside the famous 2,000-year-old Amphitheater House (Casa del Anfiteatro), built by the Romans in a colony they named Augusta Emerita.

Augustus founded Augusta Emerita, also known as Emerita Augusta, in 25 BC to resettle Emeriti soldiers from the veteran legions of the Cantabrian Wars. The city grew to become one of Hispania’s largest Roman centers and the capital of the province of Lusitania, covering an area of more than 20,000 square kilometers.

“The city was built as a model of Rome.”

“It is an excellent example of a provincial Roman capital during and after the Empire,” reads the UNESCO description.

Excavations of mosaics discovered in the House of the Amphitheater (Casa del Anfiteatro) in Mérida, Spain, where the Roman baths have been unearthed. ( Ayuntamiento De Mérida )
Excavations of mosaics were discovered in the House of the Amphitheater (Casa del Anfiteatro) in Mérida, Spain, where the Roman baths have been unearthed. Photo: Ayuntamiento De Mérida)

“Fantastic baths of an enormous size have been found for what is a standard Roman house,” stated Felix Palma, the director of the Consortium of the Monumental City of Mérida archaeological project, in a statement given to the Spanish publication El Diario. Palma said the baths would have belonged to a private residence or perhaps a set of private residences, although they would have been widely shared and therefore could still be labeled as “public” baths.

Anna Maria Bejarano, the Consortium archaeologist leading excavations at the site, said the baths are “perfectly preserved”—complete with decorations such as marble slabs, moldings on cornices, paintings on walls, and all of their underground structures.

The pool typically associated with these kinds of sites has not yet been uncovered in the excavation area, but archaeologists are not discounting the possibility that one will.

Photo: Ayuntamiento De Mérida
Photo: Ayuntamiento De Mérida

In an area first investigated during the 1940s at the Casa del Amphitheatre, a sizable domus constructed around a porticoed, trapezoidal courtyard with a garden in the middle, excavations carried out by the Emeritense Consortium and students from the University of Granada, the remains of a bathing complex were discovered.

According to Ana María Bejarano, an archaeologist from the Consortium responsible for the excavations, the team uncovered preserved public baths in the excavation area, suggesting that the Casa del Amphitheatre was not a typical domus, but a public complex linked to the shows of the Meritense amphitheater.

Cover Photo: Baths in the Casa del Amphitheatre, in Mérida Photo: Mérida City Council

Related Articles

Freshwater and marine shells used as ornaments 30,000 years ago discovered in Spain

7 June 2023

7 June 2023

In Malaga’s Cueva de Ardales, up to 13 freshwater and marine shells that were carefully transformed by humans between 25,000...

Archaeologists have uncovered oldest Roman forum in Hispania, at the site of a named unknown city

3 September 2023

3 September 2023

Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient Roman forum from more than 2,000 years ago at the site of an unknown city...

Treasure Hunter Claims to Find First Council of Nicaea’s Location, Demands $50 Million for Discovery

26 April 2025

26 April 2025

In a startling revelation, Mustafa Uysal, a treasure hunter from Bursa, has claimed to have unearthed an underground city in...

A Stunning Jade mask discovered in tomb of Maya King in Guatemala

28 January 2024

28 January 2024

Archaeologists excavating a looted pyramid tomb in the ruins of a Mayan city in Peten, northeast Guatemala, have discovered a...

Nine Ancient Patolli Games Found in Mexico

10 September 2024

10 September 2024

In recent rescue excavations in Mexico by archaeologists from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) nine patolli engravings...

The Sedgeford Anglo-Saxon malting complex may be the largest ever discovered in the UK

23 July 2023

23 July 2023

As archaeological excavations resume on a hill in Sedgeford, near Hunstanton, a seaside town in Norfolk, England, now more evidence...

Scientists reconstruct Late Bronze and Iron Age Mediterranean silver trade

11 July 2021

11 July 2021

Scientists have recreated the Eastern Mediterranean silver trade across a time span that includes the conventional dates of the Trojan...

Four-face ivory dice found at Keezhadi excavation site in India

18 February 2022

18 February 2022

The Tamil Nadu Archaeological department along with the Archaeological Survey of India has unearthed rectangular ivory dice,  in the excavation...

A new study reveals the Achaemenid Kingdom paid its workers silver

21 September 2021

21 September 2021

A new study on inscribed clay tablets that were used in the treasury archives of the Achaemenid Empire revealed that...

Numerous Statue Fragments Unearthed at Lost Apollo Sanctuary in Cyprus!

29 April 2025

29 April 2025

The Sanctuary of Apollo at Frangissa, located near ancient Tamassos and lost for approximately 140 years, has been rediscovered through...

Unsolvable Megalithic Mystery of ancient Greek “Dragon Houses”

8 January 2025

8 January 2025

The Dragon Houses of Euboea, which probably dates to the Preclassical period of ancient Greece, are one of the historical...

Samen Underground City Getting Prepared for Public Visits

6 June 2021

6 June 2021

Samen Underground City is a unique structure in Iran and the extent of such a structure has not been observed...

In Peru, Archaeologists Discovered an Ancient Dance Floor that can Imitate Rumbling of Thunder

21 July 2023

21 July 2023

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient “sounding” dance floor in Peru that was designed to create a drum-like sound when stepped...

2,000-Year-Old Artifacts Found at Swat’s Butkara Site in Pakistan, Including Coins and Kharosthi Inscriptions

14 February 2025

14 February 2025

Excavations at the Butkara Stupa, located near Mingora in Swat, Pakistan, have uncovered significant findings, including two-thousand-year-old coins, pottery, and...

Archaeologists may have Found a Viking Age Marketplace in Norway

21 February 2024

21 February 2024

Archaeologists from the University of Stavanger have identified the possible remains of a marketplace from the Viking Age on a...