Vada Volaterrana (Rosignano Marittimo, LI). Le Piccole Terme

The Small Baths are in S. Gaetano di Vada, where excavations are being undertaken in the harbour quarter of the port system of Vada Volaterrana, Volterra’s access to the sea. The Baths, built in the early 2nd cent. AD, were structurally and functionally connected with the pre-existing horrea: in fact they could only be reached from within the storehouse and therefore were to be utilized by its workers and visitors. The building consisted of 17 rooms and underwent numerous restorations and structural changes in the 3rd and 4th-5th centuries. The progressive decline in its use started in the mid 5th century and its final change of function (6th - early 7th) is documented by the presence of tombs in various rooms. No particularly noteworthy decorative elements have been found in the Baths, apart from the floor of the vestibule (IX) made of Greco Scritto marble slabs and mouldings. The frigidarium (X) pool had seats covered with white marble and a white marble mosaic floor (from the Luni or Campiglia M.ma quarries). Given its state of conservation, the supply and circulation of the water and the heating system are largely hypothetical.