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The construction of the baths of the wall probably ocurred in the moment
when the town acquires its municipal statute, about 77 A.D., becoming Flavia
Conimbriga. This process is of vital importance for the transformations
of the urban mesh of the town, its new statute breaks the previous balance
between the indigenous and the roman nucleus.
The baths of the wall suffered along its existence a complex evolution.
With a marginal urban implantation (but perhaps located near the municipal
forum) area remarkably occupied by a wealthy class, a certain magnificence
was given to it and there was artistic concern in the ordering and decoration
of the spaces.
Circumscribed in the West by a road, on the other side of which was located
the House of Cantaber and in the North by a second street where a series
of commercial establishments (cauponae?) where addorsed to the House of
the skeletons. This building that has a sequential, axial outline of the
type I of Kreencker occupies an area of 25 m for 20 m, that is to say, about
500 m2 follows a constructive program with parallel in the flavian forum.
As a matter of fact, some marble plates that were conserved in situ
correspond to the same building materials used at the forum.
The baths of the wall is distributed in two sectors, that can be interpreted
as a masculine and a feminine zone.
Initially an access room should exist opening to the street of the House
of Cantaber. Perhaps it was a rectangular room that joined the entrance
function and the dressing-room. This area, destroyed by the wall, communicated
with the frigidarium and perhaps with the external area occupied by the
natatio. This, frigididarium has a rectangular plan and would be
covered with marble plates, of which fragments remain close to the walls
West and North. A stairway to theNorth, of three steps, communicated with
a second space, also this not directly warmed. At the East wall the marks
of a threshold of a door are preserved, possibly it allowed the access to
the heated zone of the masculine baths. This room, that we interpreted as
frigidarium would finally be the space that divides the accesses to the
feminine and masculine baths. The first are enriched with another cold atmosphere,
or perhaps warmed indirectly by the conducts of the laconicum, and we can
attribute it the function of a frigidarium because it doesn't have structures
that justify its tepidarium function. This atmosphere gives access to the
feminine caldarium. The access is not very clear, possibly being occult
by the wall. The caldarium is heated up by a furnace that for its structure
would have the double function of heating the air and to sustain a boiler
of water used in an alveus of the caldarium today destroyed. To this
praefurnium the access was had by a narrow corridor that takes shape close
to the furnace, a small space of square plan. The access would be made by
the exterior of the baths, what is quite comprehensible. However, we have
not enough data about the North limit of the baths. The feminine caldarium
was constituted by a suspensura sustained by arches made of bricks (bipedalis)
on which seated a level of imbrices, with the concave side turning down,
that allowed a better circulation of the air near the pavement. In the top
of these imbrices level a thick stratum of opus signinum was laged,
quite rude but resistant on which a second finer and polished stratum was
applied. We are not sure about the covering of the pavement of the feminine
caldarium, if this stratum of opus signinum was the final aspect
or if it was still covered with mosaic or with marble plates. We also ignored
if this feminine sector had separate access from the masculine sector. If
it goes like thisis so, we should speculate the existence of a second entrance
destroyed by the wall. Even so the opened spaces as the natatio and
a palaestra lecture, and the laconicum, should be common to both
sexes.
The masculine zone of the baths is developed sequentially, with a frigidarium
space of access to the feminine and masculine zone, a tepidarium, with the
West zone dug, with suspensurae sustained by small pillars in brick
where the arches seated and a caldarium of square plan. The division
among these two warm spaces is noticed in the lower pavement of the suspensurae,
with a stone block where an arch in brick leaned that strangled the lower
passage of the hot air. This masculine caldarium was heated by two furnaces
East placed with support walls inside the suspensurae, allowing a better
canalization of the hot air. A third furnace was built to the South, with
a system of boiler support, similar to the one existent in the feminine
baths, that would provide hot water to an alveus placed in the East
part of the caldarium. Only some traces of this element remain.
Another space of the baths of the walls is the laconicum, for which access
was made by an entrance placed in the masculine tepidarium. This circular
room, heated up by an independent furnace with L shaped plan, it presents
three steps, all them covered with plates of white limestone. The heating
was made by the circulation of hot air in the walls surrounding the central
structure perhaps had this room provisioning of water. An associated pipe
exists, as well as a lateral draining of the bottom of the laconicum,
perhaps a cleaning drain. On the other hand are visible in the West wall
the marks of two niches, where would have been installed some game of water
and decoration statuary.
Other essential pieces in the public baths are the open
areas. In the baths of the wall we detected a wide space located at South
of the structure, possibly with a portico, associated with the natatio,
at least in its West side, where the external frame of the wall that defines
the limit of the area of the natatio is still visible.
The area of service of the baths is located in the Eastern side of the complex.
A compartment is detected to the East with a small basin that would have
access to the area East and North of the baths, corresponding to the road
of the House of the Skeletons.
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