archeology
March 31, 2021 – 16:27
A few meters from the public pools of thermal water, discovered thanks to an archaeological excavation started in August 2020
of Corriere Fiorentino editorial staff
The vestiges of a Roman sanctuary of the Augustan age, altars dedicated to the gods Fortuna primigenia and Isis and a marble statue depicting the goddess Igea. what emerged in San Casciano dei Bagni (Siena), a few meters away from the public pools of thermal water, thanks to an archaeological excavation started in August 2020 and that he had already unearthed an altar dedicated to Apollo. The results of the excavation campaign were presented in the presence, among others, of the mayor Agnese Carletti. The monumental structure of the sanctuary can be traced back to the Augustan age above a sacred place in the Etruscan era, at least during Hellenism.
The sanctuary takes the form of a building with a compluvium roof on a central circular basin, resting on four Tuscan columns, and with a southern entrance propylaeus delimited by two columns with an Attic base. Following a fire which probably occurred in the middle of the 1st century AD, tra et flavia ed et traianea, the building was rebuilt and enlarged. Towards the end of the second century AD three travertine altars with dedications also to Fortuna primigenia and to Isis were placed in the heart of the sanctuary, on the edge of the hot spring tub, which flows at 42 degrees. For Mayor Carletti, bringing to light the ancient thermal baths of San Casciano dei Bagni was the greatest dream of the municipal administrations of the last fifteen years.
The discovery occurred in a complex phase for the country and for the Superintendence operating in the province of Siena, proven by shortages of personnel and resources, added Andrea Muzzi, of the Superintendence of Archeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for the provinces of Siena, Arezzo, Grosseto, explaining that the good result obtained demonstrates, if it were needed, how many possibilities our archaeologists still have and what the world of field research can offer.
March 31, 2021 | 16:27
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