The southern baths

RUDI RANESI

The conservation of the large southern baths in the villa

WE ARE PRESENTING THE CONSERVATION-RESTORATION OF THE CLADDINGS AND

ORNAMENTAL DECORATIONS conserved in 11 areas in the southern baths in the Roman villa of Els Munts. The conservation-restoration treatment was envisaged as part of the overall restoration of the southern bath complex, planned for subsequent phases.

This complex is located in the far southwest of the Roman villa site in Els Munts, and it is the most significant bath side from the high-imperial Roman era on the Iberian Peninsula. The main entrance is the porticoed ambulacrum which connected the lower baths to the domus, around which the residential zone of the villa was arranged.

The spaces conserve numerous architectural structures corresponding to the walls enclosing the spaces and the pools comprising the route through the baths, distinguishing between the warm and cool zones. Remains of elements that used to hold up the roof are also conserved, as well as stairs, conduits, water fountains, sewers, ovens and hypocausts.

The decorative cladding which used to cover the surfaces of the walls and pavements are conserved in situ in a rather fragmentary fashion, but they hint at the sumptuousness and decorative richness of the complex. What primarily stands out on the walls is the remains of frescoed murals, as well as stone slabs from Alcover and marble veneers in different colours (which come from quarries all over the empire). On the floor, the remains of pavements with fired ceramic flooring are conserved, along with some remains of polychrome mosaics in opus tessellatum and extremely high-quality hydraulic claddings.

Overview of the natatorium pool and the frigidarium after the treatment. Photo: Verònica Moragas

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Process of cleaning, clearing and reorganising the fired ceramic in the caldarium. Photo: Lorenzo Masi

The murals conserved on the far southwest of the ambulacrum (area leading to the baths) after the treatment. Photo: Verònica Moragas

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The conservation-restoration tasks revolved primarily around cleaning and clearing the spaces, stabilising the degradation processes suffered by the materials and improving the interpretation of the archaeological vestiges. Most of the actions were performed on the different kinds of claddings conserved on walls and floors, and occasionally on the wall structures themselves.

Although the basic operations were similar in many regards, broadly speaking the structures with visible construction elements (ashlars and bricks) were treated differently than the walls where the cladding was conserved (such as roughcasting, mortar in opus signinum, marble veneers, mosaic tessera, stone slabs and murals).

The most important phases in the treatment can be summarised into cleaning, consolidating and replacing the material. Materials compatible with and similar to the originals were used in all cases. The procedures and application methodologies, as well as the exact composition of the materials, were determined by the results of tests conducted prior to the start of the project.

The treatments were necessarily accompanied by constant maintenance of the entire area in order to counter the effects of the complex’s exposure to the atmospheric and environmental conditions outside.

Process of recomposing the water channel which runs from the northern sector of the site to the bath area. Photo: Maria Cardenal

DETAILS

GENERIC CLASSIFICATION: archaeological and palaeontological material | OBJECT: bath complex: walls, pavements and different claddings, murals, mosaics and veneers | MATERIAL/TECHNIQUE: Local limestone wall structures resembling the stone from Mèdol; opus caementicium, opus vittatum, opus incertum and opus quadratum. Claddings: frescoed murals, veneer of marble and stone from Alcover, mosaics in opus signinum and opus tessellatum. Marble, bricks and ceramic tiles, lime and sand and/or crushed ceramic mortars | TITLE / TOPIC: decorative cladding | DATE/ERA: Roman era (late 1st - mid-2nd century to the 4th century) | SIZE: walls: 1,256 m2; pavements: 1,860 m2 | LOCATION: southwest side of the Roman villa of Els Munts, Altafulla (Tarragonès) | CRBMC REGISTRY NO.: 12565 | RESTORATION: coordinator: Rudi Ranesi (Arcovaleno Restauro, SL), Neus Casal (documentation), Carlos Alías, Maria Cardenal, Gianpiero Lauriola, Lorenzo Masi and Melitón Sánchez | PHOTOGRAPHS: Verònica Moragas | YEAR OF THE RESTORATION: 2016 | CATALOGUING: Archaeological ensemble of Tàrraco declared a UNESCO Human Heritage Site. 2000. Cataloguing BCIN 2044-ZA