Terme romane di Bevagna

Why it matters

The Roman baths of Mevania preserve a frigidarium decorated with black-and-white mosaics depicting marine motifs. The mosaic is dated to the second century AD and represents the artistic decoration of the town's Roman public buildings. Evidence of other parts of the bath complex has also been identified.

What to notice

The surviving cold room has niches framed by geometric patterns in black and white tesserae. The marine imagery relates the decoration to the room's use in a bathing complex. Traces of a calidarium, or hot room, extend the archaeological evidence beyond the frigidarium.

Context and history

Roman Mevania stood at the junction of roads connecting the Via Flaminia with Spoleto and Foligno. Its public buildings included a theatre, a temple and these baths. As the town contracted in late antiquity and the medieval commune rebuilt within the walls, later structures covered parts of the bath complex. Excavations and restoration have brought sections of the Roman structure back to light.