roman bathhouse netherlands
© Municipality of Nijmegen / BAAC / RAAPExcavation of the Roman bathhouse in Nijmegen
Archaeologists working in the Dutch city of Nijmegen have uncovered the largest Roman bathhouse complex ever found in the Netherlands. The structure stood in Ulpia Noviomagus, a Roman city along the River Waal, and covered at least 4,900 square meters. The size of the complex points to the importance of Nijmegen during the Roman period.

Teams from RAAP and BAAC began excavations in September at a redevelopment site in the Waalfront district, an area once occupied by industrial buildings. Their work exposed far more than a bathhouse. Researchers identified streets, residential blocks, large houses, and a tower, allowing them to reconstruct part of a prosperous urban neighborhood from the second and third centuries CE.

The bath complex was much larger than similar public bathhouses known elsewhere in the Netherlands. The bathhouse at Forum Hadriani, near modern Voorburg, covered about 2,200 square meters. The one at Coriovallum, in present-day Heerlen, measured around 2,500 square meters. The Nijmegen complex was more than twice the size of the former and nearly double the latter.

Roman authorities granted municipal status to Ulpia Noviomagus around CE 100 during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Soon afterward, the city gained several monumental public buildings built from stone. The bathhouse was one of them.

excavation roman bath house netherlands
© Municipality of Nijmegen / BAAC / RAAPIn-floor heating was provided by a hypocaust system found in the Roman bath complex uncovered in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Excavations exposed rooms used for hot, warm, and cold bathing. Some sections belonged to a later expansion of the complex. Archaeologists are still studying how the different parts functioned. Older bathrooms might have been replaced during renovations. Another possibility involves separate areas serving different groups of bathers.

The remains show a building finished with costly materials. Marble-covered interior walls, while black and white limestone tiles paved some floors. Other rooms featured painted plaster walls. Decorative moldings made from limestone and sandstone adorned the exterior, and stone columns formed part of the architectural design.

bone hair pins roman bathhouse netherlands
© Municipality of Nijmegen / BAAC / RAAPRoman bone hairpins found in a massive bathhouse complex in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Many Roman buildings in Nijmegen lost stone during the Middle Ages, when people dismantled ancient structures and reused the materials elsewhere. Even so, large parts of the bathhouse survived. Archaeologists uncovered drainage channels, floors, and sections of the hypocaust heating system. This Roman technology circulated hot air beneath raised floors. One concrete floor still rests on small brick pillars used by the heating system nearly two thousand years ago.

Two stone foundations survive to almost two meters in height. They rank among the best-preserved Roman masonry remains found in the city.

roman bath house dice netherlands
© Municipality of Nijmegen / BAAC / RAAPRoman gaming dice excavated from a bathhouse in Nijmegen, Netherlands
The excavation produced tens of thousands of artifacts. Among them were signet rings, coins, fragments of bronze statues, jewelry, and a necklace with a gold clasp. Hundreds of bone hairpins appeared across the site. Roman women used such pins to secure elaborate hairstyles. Some examples feature carved cats, either standing or seated.

One of the most notable finds is a bronze bust of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. The piece originally decorated a pouring vessel or an item of furniture. Later owners modified and reused the object as part of a weighing scale.

roman jewelry bath house netherlands
© Municipality of Nijmegen / BAAC / RAAPLeft: Bronze bust of Bacchus from Nijmegen. Right: gemstone from a Roman signet ring found in Nijmegen.
Coins provide evidence for continued occupation of this district into the third century CE. Archaeologists recovered many coins issued during the reign of Emperor Postumus, who ruled from CE 260 to 269. Such coins appear far less often in other parts of the Roman city.

Several of the best-preserved remains will stay in place beneath the future residential development. Current plans aim to make parts of the Roman structures visible, allowing residents and visitors to see traces of a city that flourished nearly 2,000 years ago.

The findings add important new information about Roman Nijmegen, a city widely regarded as the leading Roman urban center in what is now the Netherlands.

More information: Municipality of Nijmegen