The Upper "State" Agora
Part 5: the Upper Gymnasium
The Upper Gymnasium, also known as the Baths at the State Agora, is the easternmost surviving monument on the north side of the Upper Agora, just to the east of the Bouleuterion at the end of the Basilica Stoa.
Although the Roman bath-gymnasium complex was first excavated in 1927, it has not been completely explored, and many aspects of its history and architecture remain a mystery. It was once thought to be the Varius Baths, an outdated theory which still appears in several tourist publications.
The complex may have replaced a gymnasium of the Hellenistic period. Four bathing halls at the north of the complex were partly built into the rock of Mount Pion. To the west, the caldarium (warm baths) had a hypocaust (underfloor heating), seven niches with bathing pools, and was connected to halls with mosaic floors. It is thought that a palaestra (exercise area) may lie in the unexplored part of the complex to the south.
Ephesus had several gymnasia and bath complexes, built according to a general plan known as the Ephesian bath-gymnasium type: the East Gymnasium, the Upper Gymnasium, the Varius Baths (or Scholastikia Baths), the Theatre Gymnasium, the Harbour Gymnasium and Baths (or the Gymnasium and Baths of the Emperors) and the Vedius Gymnasium. Some larger private dwellings, such as the later Bishop's Palace and Byzantine Palace, had their own bathing facilities. |
