Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome How often do you think about the Roman Empire… and its wellness rituals? At Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel – thanks to our palatial hotel’s unique location and the secrets that lie beneath our floors – we think about it so much we’ve crafted a selection of unique spa journeys to immerse you in the ancient city’s fascinating history of health and wellbeing. Embracing the imposing Piazza della Repubblica, Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel overlooks the newly restored Fountain of the Naiads. Here at the intersection of the three most populated and popular areas of ancient Rome – the Esquilino, the Quirinale and the Viminale – the Baths of Diocletian were built between 298 and 306 AD under the orders of emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Spanning a monumental 14 hectares, the baths were a crucial social hub in ancient Rome. Citizens gathered here to meet, do business, gossip and be entertained. There were libraries and two octagonal classrooms, one of which – the former Planetarium – now houses an exhibition of artefacts from the spa, including sculptures, granite basins, green porphyry – a rare stone from Laconia – and much more. At the back was the great exedra, which had outdoor seating for public performances, competitions, debates, discussions, and meetings. The Diocletian Baths and it vast complex– the largest ever built in the Roman world – could accommodate up to 3,000 people, who naturally required a considerable amount of water. That was handled by a branch of the 91-kilometre-long Aqua Marcia, Rome’s third aqueduct, built in 144 BC. Over the centuries, these public baths in ancient Rome fell into ruin and, in anticipation of the international exhibition of 1911, the exedra, which had resisted until that moment, was finally demolished. As in so many of the Eternal City’s palaces, however, what we see on the street level hides a completely different and fascinating world below. When you descend beneath the ground floor at Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel, you can see the remains of the exedra and the baths through the glass floor. With such rich history beneath our feet, Anantara Spa has designed a selection of indigenous Roman rituals with origins that date back two millennia.
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