Roman Baths in Toledo

UNESCO World Heritage site Toledo, Spain, is famous for the archaeological and cultural influences of the diverse peoples that occupied the city throughout the Middle Ages. Less famously, Toledo was inhabited by the Romans from 192 BCE to 546 CE. During these years, it was a hub of Roman activity in Hispania.[1] The ruins of a siphon aqueduct and a colosseum, one of the largest in Hispania only highlight Toledo’s importance at the time.[2] More recently, a team of archaeologists has discovered a complex bath system that sheds light on Toledo’s role within the Roman Empire during those years.

In 1986, when investigating the Oratory of San Felipe Neri in the historical center of the city, a team of archaeologists headed by Carmelo Fernández found vestiges that indicated the presence of Roman construction. Further excavation revealed a thermal complex located under the Oratory, the adjacent Amador de Ríos plaza, and the buildings around it. The complex had three main bathing halls: a frigidarium, a tepidarium, and a caldarium. Outside the bathing rooms, there was the palestra, where the Romans exercised, the apodyterium, where they changed and undressed, and the tabernae, where they ate and drank.  These rooms were all located on the upper floor, while the lower one was dedicated to the maintenance and operation of these rooms.[3] There were long corridors with openings where slaves burned wood to heat the water, which arrived at the spa complex from the cave of Hercules and the Tagus River through an aqueduct.[4] The hypocaust, a heating system designed to circulate hot air under the adobe floor and walls of the caldarium, was built between the first and second centuries CE. Overall, the few ruins that are left indicate a massive sophisticated construction, over 3,000 square meters.[5]

In an interview with local newspaper El Debate, Fernández explained the importance of the ruins, saying, “We could be talking about the most important thermal remains of Roman Hispania, conserved very well and of great monumentality.”[6] The baths help us understand the construction methods used throughout the empire. The use of lime concrete, known at the time as Opus Caementicium, and arches built with stone voussoirs and cushioned granite, constituted a technological revolution in the Iberian Peninsula.[7] That such advanced technology for the time was being used in this provincial settlement only underscores the prominence Toledo must have held.

Furthermore, viewing these baths in comparison to others at the time provides insight on the part Toledo played within the empire. Fernández describes the baths as “...based on the ones that were in Rome, and that afterwards had their translation to other zones of the empire, particularly in the north of Africa.”[8] With these baths, Toledo not only followed the example of Rome but also set a trend that would be followed by other Western empires. In other words, Toledo was a regional role model, an influential power within the Iberian Peninsula and North Africa. Toledo’s distinction within the Empire is further emphasized by the type of art featured in the bath complex. For instance, Fernández described a statue of an ephebe as “unique in the Iberian Peninsula, and of which there are only two similar, one in Rome and the other in Athens.”[9] Quite possibly, the statue in Toledo was modeled off one of the other two, adding realism to the Toledoan imitation of the baths in Rome. By paying so much attention to this imitation, Toledoans played up the similarities between Rome and Toledo and possibly sought to position themselves as the most important city in their region.

Just as the baths give us a hint of Toledo’s influence on the world during those years, they also shed light on the other side of the coin, the effect of other peoples and cultures on Toledo. After the Visigoths seized the city in 546 CE and made it their capital. However, the Visigoths, divided amongst themselves, were conquered by Tariq bin Ziyad in 712 CE, as part of the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Amidst all this destruction, the baths were abandoned, their original purpose forgotten.[10] For instance, the baths were used as a silo and even as cisterns in the early years of the second millennium CE.[11] Once a hub of activity, a grand complex displaying the power of Toledo, these chambers were relegated to little better than warehouses. The state of the baths shows the decline of Roman presence in Toledo. As control of the city passed from Visigoths to Arabs to Berbers, the Roman influence was forgotten, as each group moving in did their best to impose their culture on the city.

In 1085, Alfonso VI of León conquered Toledo, instating a Catholic rule over the city. A few decades later, in 1125, the church of St. John the Baptist was built over the baths, and the existence of these was forgotten completely. The church contained a small recess, known as the Oratory of San Felipe Neri, which was appropriated by an eponymous congregation and used for over 700 years. They had no idea that beneath them was the greatest bath complex in the Iberian Peninsula.[12] Just as the church physically covered the baths, the Spanish Catholic authorities smothered the Muslim, Jewish, and inevitably the Roman footprints on Toledo.

 The irony is spectacular: Roman Toledo, once an influence on the rest of the Roman Empire, was left behind, buried beneath the latest edifices of the various peoples who conquered it. However, archaeologists today are making an effort to rediscover Roman Toledo, also considering the ways in which the later Toledoans went on to influence it. In fact, a great majority of the baths remain unexcavated, but the Consortium of Toledo, the organization in charge of the dig, is working to change that. As Fernández says, “There are still spaces to discover.”[13] Who knows what these ruins, long concealed by buildings and the authority of Visigoths, Arabs, Berbers, and Christians, will reveal? Will they divulge more of Roman Toledo’s role and influence on the world? Or will they further unveil the effect of the world on Roman Toledo?

Notes

[1] "Espacio Thermae y Termas Romanas de Toledo," entry posted April 2021, accessed November 28, 2023, https://www.paseartetoledo.es/blog/termas-romanas-thermae/.

[2] Alberto Molero, "La última sorpresa hallada en el suelo de Toledo podría reescribir la historia de Roma" [The Last Suprise found in the Ground of Toledo Could Rewrite the History of Rome], El Español: El Digital Castilla - La Mancha (Castilla - La Mancha), March 2023, [Page #], accessed November 28, 2023, https://www.elespanol.com/eldigitalcastillalamancha/cultura/20230312/ultima-sorpresa-hallada-toledo-reescribir-historia-roma/746925425_0.html.

[3] "Espacio Thermae."

[4] Juan Luis Alonso, "Thermae: el Toledo romano oculto que sigue sorprendiendo," entry posted April 24, 2023, accessed November 28, 2023, https://www.leyendasdetoledo.com/thermae-toledo-termas-romanas/.

[5] "Termas Romanas" [Roman Baths], Consorcio de Toledo, accessed November 28, 2023, https://consorciotoledo.com/termas-romanas/.

[6] "Encuentran nuevas termas romanas en el casco histórico de Toledo: las más importantes de España" [They Find New Roman Baths in the Historic Center Of Toledo: The Most Important of Spain], El Debate (Spain), March 7, 2023, accessed November 28, 2023, https://www.eldebate.com/historia/20230307/encuentran-nuevas-termas-romanas-casco-historico-toledo_98819.html.

[7] "Termas Romanas," Consorcio de Toledo.

[8] Molero, "La última."

[9] Fidel Manjavacas, "Las termas imperiales de Toledo en las que se bañaban los esclavos o el emperador de la época" [The Imperial Baths of Toledo in which Slaves or the Emperor of the Time Bathed], EL Diario (Spain), June 29, 2019, [Page #], accessed November 28, 2023, https://www.eldiario.es/castilla-la-mancha/imperiales-toledo-banaban-esclavos-emperador_1_2047962.html.

[10] Collins, Roger (2004). Visigothic Spain, 409–711. Blackwell. p. 133. ISBN 9780631181859.

[11] "Termas Romanas," Consorcio de Toledo.

[12] Guía Más Toledo, "Termas del Oratorio de San Felipe Neri" [Baths of the Oratory of San Felipe Neri], Toledo Guía Turística y Cultural, accessed November 28, 2023, http://toledoguiaturisticaycultural.com/termas-del-oratorio-de-san-felipe-neri/.

[13] Manjavacas, "Las termas."