Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in The Baths of Diocletian in Rome Italy with the Meridian
The Baths of Diocletian in Rome were the grandest of the public baths, Diocletian's Baths, dedicated in 306, were the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial baths and remained in use until the aqueducts that fed them were cut by the Goths in 537. They are well preserved because various parts later were converted to ecclesiastical or other use, including the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri whose three soaring transept vaults provide one of the few glimpses of the original splendor of Roman building. Almost a century after Caracalla gave Romans his Baths, Emperor Diocletian, who never even visited Rome, strove to outshine his imperial predecessor by commissioning the largest bathing establishment the world had ever seen. It could accommodate 3000 bathers it covered 13 hectares (32 acres) and had changing rooms, gymnasiums, libraries, meeting rooms, theatres, concert halls, sculpture, gardens, with mosaic floors and marble facades. But most of the ancient bathing complex is gone, either fallen down or pulled down. The curved colonnade of Piazza della Repubblica follows the outer wall of the former great exedra. The curious "meridian" (1703), a sundial on the right side of the transept, which for a century and a half was used to determine midday for the city of Rome. Light comes in through a carefully placed opening high up on the wall and falls across a brass strip embedded in the floor, which is the exact North-South meridian of Rome. When the sun’s rays lines up precisely along the strip, that's high noon.
Size: 5050px × 3354px
Location: Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in The Baths of Diocletian in Rome Italy
Photo credit: © Brenda Kean / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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