Along with the great open air museum, what made the museum at Augusta Raurica really stand out was a reconstruction of a Roman house (Map below):
Upon entering (by a modern entrance, not the typical one) we see the peristylum, or Inner Courtyard:
Moving up (Number 7 on the map) is the Culina, or kitchen:
Next to the kitchen is the Occus, or Formal Dining Hall. You can see the couches where the diners would been situated:
The Apodytterium, or changing room for the baths:
The Tepidarium, or Tepid Bath:
Below the Caldarium showing the hypocaust, or underground system which funnel heat to the floor:
The Caldarium, or Hot Bath:
The Frigidarium, or Cold Bath:
Fascinating TB, central atrium provides light throughout the home it looks like.
ReplyDeleteThat was one of the features, Nylon12 - along with high windows in the other rooms to let in some light (but keep out other sorts of visitors).
DeleteWhen I was younger, I used to spend a lot of time sketching various dream homes that I would someday like to build and live in and the vast majority of them had some sort of inner courtyard or an inside greenhouse area. They seem so peaceful and relaxing to have an inner sanctum of some sort but I'm not sure I've ever been in a house that has had one.
ReplyDeleteEd, at least on the West Coast there seems to have been a time - maybe the mid-sixties? - where inner gardens were a thing. The trend never really caught on.
DeletePerhaps there are some code issues that prevent it now - but to your point, such a thing seems incredibly desirable, instead of something like a front or back yard where the space is "shared" with everyone around you. Little enough inner sanctum there.
How interesting. Like Ed, I once sketched a dream house around an inner courtyard when I was young. I wonder if the colder climate made it seem less enjoyable than nearer the Mediterranean.
ReplyDeleteDid all Roman homes have three baths like that? I once researched hypocausts, when I was researching alternative heating. Interesting to see how it was actually set up in a home.
Leigh, from the little bit I know of archaeology, such homes were built farther North - although to your point, much less enjoyable. The inner garden was as much a sign of Roman-ness as it was of practical use.
DeleteNo, I do not believe all homes would have had this arrangement, only the wealthy. The public baths were much more plentiful and popular and served as points of contact. Likely this would have been a display of riches, both to build and to maintain with water.