Legionary fortress baths of León. Analysis and archaeological interpretation of its southeast corner

Abstract

In 1996, the archaeological interventions in Puerta Obispo zone of the city of León, next to the east gate of the legionary fortress, revealed the remains of a Roman building dismantled almost at foundations level. The archeo-architectonic analysis has allowed us to known its complete constructive sequence. The building was directly connected to the great legionary baths that occupied a large block under the medieval cathedral. This space was occupied at first by the large pool of a baths frigidarium, inscribed in a large room. In a later constructive phase, the pool was amortized and reused, forming the infrastructure of quadrangular public latrine –forica–. This transformation must have taken place at the time the porta principalis sinistra was built at the end of the 1st century ad. The latrines remained in use until the middle of the third century ad, when this space undergoes a new adaptation.

Keywords

• campamento
• legio vii gemina
• termas
• letrinas
• materiales y técnicas constructivas
• paisaje urbano