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Roman Baths in Fondi: the excavations that reveal the city beneath the city
In Piazza Unità d'Italia, in the heart of Fondi's historic centre, a window opens onto the ancient city. The Roman baths — dating to between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD — were discovered by chance in 1964, during the reconstruction of the Chapel of San Rocco (St Roch), which had been destroyed by bombing in the Second World War.
Where one of the ancient world's most important roads once ran
The baths stood at the crossroads of the decumanus maximus — the main street of Roman Fondi, today's Corso Appio Claudio — and a branch of the Via Appia (Appian Way). This central location says a great deal about the importance of the complex. The structure underwent alterations from the imperial age through to the 5th century AD, a sign of prolonged use over time.
A black-and-white mosaic, and a mystery still unsolved
The highlight of these baths is a black-and-white tessera mosaic, still visible today. The excavations also brought to light a calidarium and a tepidarium — the rooms for hot and warm baths. The incomplete state of the structures found makes it unclear however whether these were public baths or the private baths of an imperial villa. The marble fragments recovered are nonetheless considered by scholars to be of excellent quality.
