HOT SPRINGS

In 2006, the imperial public baths of the Roman municipium of Allon were discovered in La Vila Joiosa; they were built in the late 1st century A.D., a time when the Colosseum in Rome was being constructed and Mount Vesuvius was devastating Pompeii. The baths were found to be in very good condition and are, in fact, one of the best-preserved examples of Roman civil engineering in the Valencian Community.

In addition to the usual hot and cold pools, massage rooms, and saunas, the Imperial Public Baths of Allon also featured open-air spaces overlooking the river where people could exercise. At the entrance, where admission was charged, there may have been a bar and a street with stone sidewalks lined with “shops,” serving as a commercial district.

Furthermore, given its grandeur and location in the city center, it is believed that bathers would have entered through a monumental entrance leading from the city’s Forum (located beneath the current Plaza de la Generalitat). Given these characteristics and its large size, we can understand the importance and prosperity that Allon enjoyed after Emperor Vespasian declared it a municipium in A.D. 74. Its territory encompassed the entire region of what is now known as Marina Baixa, and within it were villages and towns, as well as stately residences such as those at Albir and La Pila in Altea.

But these thermal baths in La Vila Joiosa have been more than just an important archaeological discovery; they have provided evidence that Allon, the fourth and last Roman city in the province of Alicante, lies beneath the city center. They are currently covered up, and work is scheduled to begin next year on the Master Plan for Restoration and Enhancement.

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