The Baths of Yenne

Problems with living in the south of France: aiming only to build a house, this property owner instead discovered Roman baths. (English article, French original at INRAP) The bath complex was in use from the 100s AD to the late 300s.

The site is near rapids on the Rhone River from which water was diverted to the baths. The complex included a well-heated room, an intermediate space, and then a large, unheated pool. This follows the usual arrangement of Roman baths, hot - warm - cold.

Adjacent to the baths was a large room with a concrete floor that once had brightly painted walls, as these surviving fragments show. The archaeologists aren't sure what this space was; perhaps a shop or library?

Just another reminder of how vast are the material remnants of the Roman world.