La piscina calida delle ‘Terme di Montegranaro’ a Taranto

Abstract

The paper describes the study carried out on the ‘roman bath of Montegranaro’: an impressive structure which was the
thermal sector of a luxurious and monumental domus in Taranto, dated in the early imperial age. It was built on the
S-E coast of the city, on the place that today is located near Piazza Ebalia along Vittorio Emanuele III coastal road. The
rooms of the domus were to be distributed over several terraces having a scenic view on the bay of the Mar Grande:
an urban area that in the Augustan age was still little affected by the expansion of the municipium. Unfortunately, the
expansion of modern Taranto destroyed the remains, but it is still possible to do a structural analysis by reviewing the
data regarding a large heated room of the balneum, that represent the westernmost part of the complex. The study of
this room led to a new interpretation that identifies it as a large piscina calida, equipped with a heating system known as samovar.