Athena Review Image Archive ™
Upper Danube:The "Palastruine" baths at Carnuntum
"Palastruine" remains of Roman bath (© 1999 BFA Documentary Photography).
Strategically
situated for trade on the Danube, soon after the Roman conquest of
Pannonia in 12 BC, Carnuntum (located near modern Vienna, Austria)
became a busy civilian town. Carnuntum's residences and public
buildings were modeled on Italian design, but adapted to the colder
climate along the Danube.
In the northwest of the municipium
(about 250 meters from the site's information center), lie the remains
of one of the most impressive baths built by the Romans in the Danubian
region. Once believed to be a palace (and accordingly, named
Palastruine or “palace ruin”), it is still only partly excavated. The
thermae or warm bath building of 104 x 143 m is the largest north of
the Alps, with 2-foot or higher extant foundations of rectangular
rooms, octagonal and rotunda areas.
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