The old Roman wrestling hall and bathhouse
Yesterday, I visited an abandoned sports hall, just like the Soviet one in Burlacu in Moldova. This one was just a bit more fancy and a bit older.
The ruins of a Roman bathhouse had revealed an enormous sports area, where wrestlers of ancient time would compete. It was surrounded by tall pillars and accompanied by a wast complex of bath and massage rooms. Here, the wrestlers would prepare themselves before the matches and the spectators could hang out and chat.
It was a really impressive structure and not hard to imagine, how beautiful it must have been. The walls had been all marble and a wooden ceiling had covered the many square meters of halls and baths. Remains of amazing paintings were on the walls and tall statues of ancient gods next to the walls.
Imagine having a gym like that! :)
Arthur
Always dreamt of training and fighting in open air !
Arthur
Mar 08, 2011 @ 11:36
BillD
“Christian, do you like movies about gladiators?”
-Cpt.Oveur (“Airplane!”)
Mar 08, 2011 @ 15:08
slideyfoot
Cool – looks like a great place to visit going by your pics, so I look foward to heading over there myself some time. :)
Visiting old Roman stuff is always fun: Turkey has loads of it, so worth dropping in if you’re passing any on your route. For example, Ephesus and Hierapolis, among many, many others.
Then of course there is the huge amount of Byzantine history (especially in Istanbul), which shows you what happened after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. I never cease to find it amazing that Roman Empire was essentially still going until Mehmet II conquered what was then Constantinople in 1453.
Mar 08, 2011 @ 21:36
Asa
This is totally RAD!
Mar 10, 2011 @ 09:18