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Exploring some Abandoned Roman Baths in Malta

Information from the sign outside the building states:

Discovered during maintenance and cleaning activities in May-June 2000, the site was identified as a Roman Period Bath complex. The baths with their pools, cold, tepid and hot rooms were cut into the rocks, in a steep cliff overlooking Mistra Valley.

The cave was used as a burial site, possibly in Punic times ca. 500BC, prior to its conversion into a bath complex.

Notice the three different style tombs all dug with great precision.
In the 17th Century a beautiful wall and arched doorway were constructed, turning the baths into a farmhouse and/or dwelling place.

Two mangers and two hitching places are very well preserved. Two medium-sized pools would have served for cold dips. The stucco lining of the pool and part of the deep red coloured stuccos that covered the walls can still be traced.

On entering the doorway lies a large hall which probably served as a tepidarium. A narrow corridor separates the tepidarium from the caldarium, which is well preserved. Of rectangular shape, it possesses an apse with a rock-hewn niche possibly containing the statue of Hercules.

On the upper level a huge cistern was dug for the collection of the spring water, although at some point it could have been used as a silo. Baths of this size required a huge quantity of water which was provided by a couple of springs that up to a few years ago flowed down to Mistra valley from the top of the cliffs. It is not known whether the pools were roofed over but traces of rebates up the cliff face point to at least partial roofing.

Unfortunately the baths had to be abandoned due to subsidence and crevices in the rocks, which is a common feature in the north part of the island.

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