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Trier

The largest Roman baths outside of the city of Rome itself (with and area measuring 260 x 145 m) were erected after Trier had been elevated to Imperial residence (293 A.D.).

The bath halls which included a cold-water bath, warm-water bath and hot-water bath were arranged strictly symmetrically. Only the eastern part of the site has survived as a ruin. The hot-water bath hall was a gigantic room measuring some 37 x 20 m. Three semi-circular apses accommodated the swimming pools. Particularly impressive is the ruin's external masonry with alternating layers of limestone blocks and brickwork arranged in careful patterns. The splendor of the whole shows the special importance enjoyed by Roman baths as bathing and sporting institutions and as social meeting places.