Byzantine Bishop’s Bathhouse Revealed in Ancient Olympos

ANTALYA, TURKEY—Türkiye Today reports that a well-preserved bathhouse covering more than 2,000 square feet has been uncovered in southern Turkey's ancient city of Olympos. Although attached to the residence of a leader of the Christian church, the structure was much larger than bathhouses usually reserved for private use in the fifth and sixth centuries A.D., explained excavation director Gökçen Kurtuluş Öztaşkın of Pamukkale University. He and his team discovered the bath’s full heating system, including its kulan, or furnace, and wall heating installations. Fragments of the building’s interior wall coverings also survived. “The bathhouse was not only for the bishop’s private use,” Oztaskin said. “It had entrances both from the main street and from the house. On certain days of the week, the bishop allowed ordinary townspeople to use it free of charge, both for hygiene and for health purposes.” To read about a submerged building in Turkey's Lake Iznik, go to "Sunken Byzantine Basilica," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2014.