Hellenistic Balaneion, Amathous

Excavated in the 1980s by M. Loulloupi, this Hellenistic public bath building (balaneion) was one of the first structures built in the Amathous’ Agora in the Hellenistic Period. The bathhouse is an enclosed circular space in the south of the agora, and used rainfall as the source of water. Preserved are the foundations for the furnace and storage of hot water in the center, surrounded by little baths. The large rectangular hall in the north of the bath complex has been identified as an exercise court (palaestra) or a race course (dromos). In between the large exercise hall and the circular bathing area, there are some small rooms and hallways, where patrons prepared for the bath and had post-bath treatments like massage and oiling. These baths had to be tended by servants as they had no drainage. In the Roman  period, with the reordering of the agora and the construction of a new Roman bathhouse, this bath complex lost prominence and was built over by a terrace which connected the street and the inner harbor.