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Terme di Caracalla Within the Ruined Spa Complex

Baths of Caracalla Rome plus Lunch at Al Callarello

December 17, 2015 By Jan Robinson 24 Comments

This post may contain compensated links. We may earn a small percentage if you book through a compensated link, but it won’t cost you any more by doing so. You can read our full disclaimer here.


Having visited three of the major historical sights of Rome, the Palatine Hill, The Roman Forum and the Colosseum the nearby Baths of Caracalla are a must see Roman destination. I’m not sure why this ancient thermal baths complex, built in 212AD isn’t more popular because it is a spectacular ruin set amidst beautiful landscaping.

However it’s being off the radar worked in our favour with plenty of room to move through the vast site. Al Callarello, one of the most affordable and local restaurants in Rome is also in the neighbourhood and is a delightful stop especially in late Spring.

Find Things for couples to do in Rome Tours here.

What You Will Find in This Post

  • About of the Baths of Caracalla
    • Constructing the Caracalla Baths
    • Operating the ancient Caracalla Baths
    • What Activities were available at the Caracalla Baths?
    • Baths of Caracalla Layout Plan
    • What the Baths of Caracalla Looked Like in their Hey Day.
  • What the Baths of Caracalla look like today.
  • Eating at Al Callarello Restaurant
    • Eat with Locals
  • Baths of Caracalla Map
    • This map shows how to get the Al Callarello from the Baths of Caracalla.
  • Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini
  • Baths of Caracalla Entrance Fee
    • More from my site

About of the Baths of Caracalla

Constructing the Caracalla Baths

Researching the baths of Caracalla history revealed it’s construction took a huge effort. The 9000 workers took five years to build the platform (measuring 337 x 328 metres) alone.

Operating the ancient Caracalla Baths

Before feeling sorry for these above ground workers though, a thought should be spared for the slaves who stoked the fires in underground tunnels and ran on treadmills to pump the water.
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The thermal baths of Caracalla

What Activities were available at the Caracalla Baths?

Those who were lucky enough to attend the baths of their own free will, had a veritable smorgasbord of activities to choose from. First there was the sauna, followed by rooms of differing temperatures and then outdoor swimming pools. Libraries, art galleries and gardens added culture to the mix.

Baths of Caracalla Layout Plan

The plans below give some idea of what the baths looked like back in their day.

Terme di Caracalla Plan

What the Baths of Caracalla Looked Like in their Hey Day.

Terme di Caracalla Info Board

A board game on the edge of one of the pools where walnuts were thrown in the holes with a first past the line ending, like in mini-golf.

Terme di Caracalla Walnut Board Game

What the Baths of Caracalla look like today.

Founding Emperor Caracalla, had the public baths built in a political move to gain favour with his subjects – and it worked. He decorated the complex with high-end ornamental sculptures like Farnese Hercules (now housed in the Capodimonte museum in Naples).

Some mosaics are now located at the Vatican and of course more been looted over time. There is no on-site Museum.

Terme di Caracalla Within the Ruined Spa Complex

Back in the day, the bottoms of the Emperors’ subjects rested on marble seats, their eyes and feet feasting on mosaics – some of which are preserved in-situ today.

The mosaic remnants propped willy nilly around the walls at ground level today were once on the (now non-existent) floor above.

Terme di Caracalla Roman Tile Mosaics

1600 patrons from a wide cross-section of the community enjoyed the baths at any one time, with a total of 6,000-8,000 entering daily. Houses back then had no bathrooms, so the Baths of Caracalla played an important role in keeping the population clean. No wonder the emperor was popular!

Terme di Caracalla Well

Termi de Caracalla Walls and Greenery

Terme de Caracalla Imposing walls

Although the baths have not worked since the 6th Century, we did raise a sweat in temperatures of 33 degrees Celsius in late June. The high walls radiated and channeled heat and it was hard to comprehend how hot it would have been feeding fires in the tunnels.

Terme di Caracalla Roman Tunnel Section

Only opened to the public in 2012, the tunnels are a surprising 4km long and at 6 metres across – wide enough for horses dragging carriages of wood to enter and turn around. Nowadays the tunnels (only a small portion of which are open to the public) display columns and artefacts and sans fires were noticeably cooler than above ground.

A portion of engraved Column on display in the tunnel.

Terme di Caracallo Column Engraving

Rome's Terme di Caracalla Pink Floyd Ballet Stage

The Pink Floyd Ballet was performed in the grounds the night before our visit. You can sign up to be notified of Opera performances Here.

 

Eating at Al Callarello Restaurant

A caravan at the entrance to the Baths complex sold panini rolls and drinks, but this was our second last day in Rome and we wanted to relax over a restaurant lunch.  We walked all over looking for a restaurant before straying into Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini where a flower seller directed us to Al Callarello.

Being a hot day the restaurant had marquees set up street-side.

Al Callarello Restaurant Rome

The waiter sat us at the sunny end, possibly segregating us, or maybe he thoughtfully assumed we would enjoy sitting in the sun – damn our language skills! In either case he didn’t object when we joined the other diners in the shade.

Eat with Locals

I must say it was lovely to be seated with local families enjoying Sunday lunch together. Ever conscious of the budget, Marty chose a fried calamari entree, which arrived on a bed of fried leafy greens. When it arrived he found it large enough for a lunchtime main but he had already ordered a side of fried potatoes. I stole liberal tasting of the whole baby squid and can vouch for it’s crunchy, moist perfection.

My order of octopus salad elicited noises of approval from our waiter. The Octopus was boiled or ceviched it was difficult to say which, then cut into bite sized pieces, tossed with celery and carrot and served on a bed of fresh rocket. It wasn’t how I envisaged, but I could not have ordered better for this hot Roman day – tasty, tender and refreshing.

We’d not previously seen Tiramisu presented the way Al Callarello did with the components of the dish arranged free-form on a flat plate and the cream custard dolloped on top. Marty demolished it but decided the one at Pizzeria Al Marmi on Viale Trastevere was a little better.

Having spent the morning walking in the hot sun, I found the thought of Strawberries and Vanilla Gelato irresistible. The quality of the strawberries shone through and with the gelato rapidly melting, I devoured it pronto.

The charge of 2 euro for a large bottle of cold sparkling water was welcome, after much higher prices seen elsewhere. It’s a lot to do with the area I guess.

35 Euro for two mains, two desserts, one side dish, a large sparkling water to share, and cover-charge seemed inexpensive.

We enjoyed lunching at Al Callarello.

Baths of Caracalla Map

This map shows how to get the Al Callarello from the Baths of Caracalla.

Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The houses in the vicinity of Piazza Gian Lorenzo Bernini (above) were decorated with exposed bricks (same as in Al Callarello above) and the area seemed like an interesting pocket suburb.  It is actually very close-by to Aventino the suburb we covered on the blog last week.

I am co-host of Nancie’s Travel Photo Thursday at Budget Travelers Sandbox, together with Ruth from Tanama Tales and Rachel from Rachel’s Ruminations.  If you have a blog you can add a link to one of your posts containing a travel photo below. Feel free to link back to this site in your blog also.

Baths of Caracalla Entrance Fee

Entrance Fee Online 6 Euro plus 2 Euro booking fee.

Read more Italian Posts!

Budget Travelers Sandbox

 

An InLinkz Link-up


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Filed Under: Food to Love, Italy, Ruins, Self Guided Walking Tours

About Jan Robinson

Jan Robinson writes about travel on her Budget Travel Talk blog. A solo traveller in her teens, for the last 40 years Jan has travelled through Australia, Asia, Europe, Turkey and New Zealand with her husband. They specialise in road trips, caravanning and Independent travel without spending a fortune. Her favourite destination is Turkey and she is currently dreaming of Myanmar and Mexico.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Indrani

    December 18, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    What an amazing place! The remains look well preserved.
    Adding to my dream list of places to visit.

    Reply
  2. Muza-chan

    December 18, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    Beautiful place…

    Reply
  3. Jo

    December 18, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    Wow, Jan. How fabulous to walk around an amazing place like this to dream and wonder. And 212AD seems like the beginning of the world. Terme di Caracalla, looks awe inspiring in your photos and I can only imagine what a fascinating ruin it is in real life.

    Reply
  4. Lisa Wood

    December 18, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    Oh I love exploring old places, and finding out their history, and looking at pictures of how they used to look.
    The Spa Bath Lunch at Al Callarello in Rome look fantastic – shame they haven’t been restored to be used as a Spa Bath {guess that would cost a small fortune!!} They sure don’t build them strong like they did back in the 212AD. But gee those poor slaves slaves who stoked the fires in underground tunnels and ran on treadmills to pump the water, that’s too cruel!!!

    Reply
  5. Krista

    December 18, 2015 at 8:15 pm

    What a gorgeous place! I love that they show you what it used to look like. How stunning it must’ve been. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 18, 2015 at 8:50 pm

      It’s incredible to believe that they built such a place in 212 AD and so much of it still remains today!

      Reply
  6. Kathy Marris

    December 18, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    I have never heard of these public bath houses. It is hard to imagine that they were heated underground and water pumped by man driven treadmills. Such ingenuity! I really like that you have been bringing us places in Europe that are a little less known and much more interesting than some of the really touristy sites. 🙂

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 18, 2015 at 9:59 pm

      Thanks Kathy, I like finding less known of places to blog about, although I still love the well known sites. The Palatino is one of my favourite places and it is very close to these thermal baths.

      Reply
  7. Life Images by Jill

    December 18, 2015 at 10:36 pm

    what a massive feat of construction. Yes I feel sorry for the underground slaves. I doubt those using the baths would have even considered them. Have a wonderful week and happy travels!

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 19, 2015 at 2:41 am

      It is true that they probably did spare them a thought – unless they let the fires go out of course!

      Reply
  8. Ruth - Tanama Tales

    December 19, 2015 at 3:49 am

    So many things went thru my mind as I was reading the post and taking a look at the pictures. First, I do not think I have heard of this place before (shame on me). It is surprising to see how grand it was (or it is!). It is also fascinating to find out how slaves were used to operate the place (wow!). The other thing is that those mosaic floors remind me of places like Copacabana (Brazil) and Portugal. The people who designed the sidewalks and streets in those places had to be inspired by Roman works like this.

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 19, 2015 at 4:45 pm

      Hi Ruth, I don’t think many people know about Caracalla and I can’t understand why. Our Airbnb host insisted we visit and we were glad we did.

      Reply
  9. Turkey's For Life

    December 19, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    Much agreed – why is this place not more well known? We’ve only spent one weekend in Rome so had no time to venture too far but we’ll definitely be back again and will hunt this place out. Looks amazing! 🙂
    Julia

    Reply
  10. Rachel Heller

    December 19, 2015 at 11:41 pm

    How come Caracalla isn’t one of the well-known Rome sights? Those mosaics are fabulous! And, oh, I’d love a meal like that right now!

    Reply
  11. Michele {Malaysian Meanders}

    December 22, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    It’s so hard for me to comprehend that many people going through those baths daily. It certainly gives testimony to what a big town Rome was. I do feel sorry for all those slaves, especially the ones on the treadmills. The mosaics are beautiful. We didn’t have a chance to see this when we were in Rome.

    Reply
  12. Pinay Flying High

    December 23, 2015 at 12:06 am

    Love the board game! We have a similar game in the Philippines but we don’t have a board for it, just play it in any flat surface. :p

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 23, 2015 at 1:16 pm

      This board was actually the edge of the pool!

      Reply
  13. Nancie

    December 23, 2015 at 8:06 am

    What an interesting place, Jan! I spent a few days in Rome back in the 1990s and did not come across this. What a great reason to go back, eh? I have to say the Romans knew how to live! I love the idea of attending an opera there. Your lunch has me drooling, and it’s only 7am here. Must stop for breakfast!

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 23, 2015 at 1:17 pm

      I enjoyed Rome so much Nancie, I would definitely return but Marty thinks not!

      Reply
  14. Cathy Sweeney

    December 23, 2015 at 11:44 am

    So much to discover in Rome — I don’t know how I’m ever going to see it all, so thanks for the tips here. We were near the Palatino, but completely missed this on our first visit to the Eternal City in May. Interesting history and lunch looks delightful.

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 23, 2015 at 1:17 pm

      Yes it is so close to the Palatino Cathy. I’m sure you’ll be back there one day soon.

      Reply
  15. Pinky Poinker

    December 24, 2015 at 10:11 am

    Wow, those Romans were very advanced weren’t they! I bet they smelled a lot better than the English back in the day. The calamari is making my mouth water.

    Reply
    • Jan

      December 25, 2015 at 3:27 am

      I thought Marty could have been more adventurous than ordering the Calamari Pinky, but it was an excellent choice. Have a lovely Christmas!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Tips and Photos from the Palatine in Rome says:
    April 6, 2017 at 10:07 pm

    […] dismiss this site as not interesting enough. Our Airbnb host in Rome, recommended the Palatine and Terme di Caracalla as her two favourite outdoor sites to visit and I admit that I would return to the Palatine again […]

    Reply

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