Terme Romane

The Terme Romane are a Roman bath complex in Como, beneath a modern multi-storey car park. The excavated rooms form a visible layer beneath the modern city.

Built in the second half of the first century AD, the baths received funding from Pliny the Younger. The benefactor came from Como and served as a Roman senator. During the second century, workers added three rooms and changed the functions of existing spaces. Archaeological excavations reveal eight surviving rooms in varied geometric forms. Octagonal chambers probably served as hot rooms, while rectangular chambers probably held cold rooms. The nearby Valduce stream supplied the facility with water. The facility remained in use until the third century ended, then part of the site became a necropolis for about three centuries.

Elevated walkways cross the ruins and reveal original wall plaster beside two small exhibition spaces. Archaeologists found about ten tombs from the later necropolis. Display cases hold excavation finds, including decorative fragments and building materials.