Wednesday, May 6, 2020

BATHS OF St. HELENA

TERME ELENIANE
Via di S. Croce in Gerusalemme/Via Germano Sommelier

Built in the Severan period (193/235)

They were restored by St. Helena, mother of Constantine (306/337), as part of the Palatium Sessorianum, the palace of the imperial family

An inscription, which currently is in the Vatican, says:
Our Lady Helen, augusta mother of our venerable sir Constantine and grandmother of our happy and flourishing Caesar, (these) baths, that had been destroyed by fire, restored

The complex was buried at the orders of Sixtus V Peretti (1585/90) for the construction of Via Carlo Felice
There are only remnants of the tank with twelve rooms connected on two parallel lines

Andrea Palladio (1508/80) and Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (1484/1546) studied the structures and their notes and drawings are valuable for studying the plan, which appears to be irregular
In terms of size was a middle ground between the huge Baths of Constantine and smaller bathing complexes
The northern part was fenced by a high wall

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