Roman baths and athletic area

Walking into modern day Pythagorio, the ancient Samian city of Pythagorion, from our holiday accommodation we would pass the ruins of a second century Roman leisure centre, Thermes.

Roman baths area

I refer to the site as a leisure centre because for me the Thermes was rather more than a bath complex. These Roman baths included an extensive complex of public buildings and baths, which included the gymnasium, the stadium and the palaestra (wrestling school). Next to the main entrance of the baths, there were vestiaires for visitors. The cold water pool and the octagonal pool were located on the northern side of the Thermes, while the hot rooms with an under-floor system for the water heating were located on the southern side.

Sadly I was unable to gain entry to the baths area and was only able to take photographs from the roadway, but as can be seen it must have been an impressive sight in its heyday.

The site included a vaulted room used as a sauna, which was turned into a Christian baptistery in the 5^th century AD. That period, a three-aisled basilica with mosaics on the floor was constructed around this baptistery. The walls of the Roman baths were decorated with marble, while the floors were covered with mosaics depicting various scenes.

Adjacent to the baths was the stadium and wrestling school (top right of the image below).

I was able to gain access to this area, which now forms part of the grounds of a hotel complex.

Part of the wrestling school and stadium

As  you can see some of the original construction is still in remarkably good condition.

I think it a shame that a hotel was allowed to be built on what is really such an important archaeological site.

The remains of various chambers can be seen and explored - I was not able to find information explaining what these rooms were originally used for.

I am disturbed by the use the hotel is currently making of pieces of stone removed from the ancient buildings.

Stone removed to make tables and seats

To me it seems very wrong that items are being removed from an archaeological site and used to provide holidaymakers with somewhere to enjoy drinks and snacks.