The Baths of Caracalla present an extraordinary opportunity to discover their heritage in a completely different light. Between October 12 and November 2, Rome ’s monumental complex will exceptionally open in the evening hours for a series of nine appointments that will allow visitors to explore the archaeological site’s most secret spaces in a particularly evocative nighttime atmosphere. Each evening will include six guided tours lasting 40 minutes, with groups of up to forty people. Tours will be available in Italian and English, while access to guides in other languages can be arranged upon request.
The initiative aims to offer a different experience from the usual daytime visits, highlighting environments normally closed to the public and little-known routes. Prominent among the accessible sites are the underground rooms of the complex, which house the antiquarium and a collection of outstanding artifacts, including two exquisitely crafted mixed-style capitals from the Severan period. These underground spaces, which extend beneath the entire surface of the complex and beyond, document a key aspect of daily life in the baths: the service rooms, boilers, storerooms, and galleries. These are actual engine rooms that powered the thermal plant, where hundreds of people worked. Shrouded in silence and darkness, the underground rooms reveal an ingenious hydraulic and thermal system, still partly visible, that testifies to the technological complexity of the time.
“The evening openings at the Baths of Caracalla represent a unique opportunity to experience one of the symbolic sites of ancient Rome in a new and immersive dimension,” says Daniela Porro, Special Superintendent of Rome. “We offer visitors not only the chance to admire the architectural grandeur of the baths and to discover the undergrounds and the mithraeum, but also to live a sensory experience thanks to the scenic effects at the water mirror, for a journey between history and contemporaneity.”
Among the most relevant attractions, the visit also includesaccess to the largest mithraeum found in Rome, unique for its location within an imperial bath facility. The environment, rich in symbolism, preserves part of the original altar and decorations, elements that allow us to understand the ceremonies dedicated to the cult of the god Mithras. The descent to the Mithraeum represents a rare opportunity to observe a normally inaccessible space and delve into a particular aspect of religious life in ancient Rome. The evening tour also includes the Water Mirror, one of the most scenic areas of the Baths of Caracalla. Here, plays of light, water jets and vaporousness reproduce the atmosphere of the spa facilities of the time, offering an experience that partially reconstructs the perception ancient visitors may have had. The installations evoke the activities related to water and the enjoyment of the thermal spaces, complementing the archaeological value with a set-up designed to enhance the evening itinerary.
The scheduled evenings are on the dates of Oct. 12, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25 and 30, as well as Nov. 1 and 2. For each date, there are four tours in Italian, at 7:15 p.m., 7:55 p.m., 9:15 p.m. and 9:55 p.m., one tour in English at 8:55 p.m. and one tour with own guides at 8:15 p.m. Admission costs 20 euros, reduced to 12 euros for some categories. Reservations are required, given the limited availability of seats for each round.
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| Baths of Caracalla: night tours of hypogea, mithraeum and water scenes |
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