Thermae Thermae In ancient Rome, thermae (from Greek θερμός "thermos", "hot") and balneae (from Greek βαλανεῖον "balaneion") were facilities for bathing. "Thermae" usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while "balneae" were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome. Most Roman cities had at least one, if not many, such buildings, which were centres not only for bathing, but socializing, and reading as well. Roman bath-houses were also provided for private villas, town houses, and forts. They were supplied with water from an adjacent river or stream, or more normally, by an aqueduct. The water
Roman Thermae (Varna) Karel and Hermann Škorpil. Further parts of the ruins were uncovered between 1959 and 1971 by a team under M. Mirchev. In August 2013, Varna Municipality ordered an urgent reconservation project for the Roman Thermae worth 125,000 Bulgarian leva. The remains of the Roman Thermae lie in the southeastern part of modern Varna, at the intersection of San Stefano Street and Han Krum Street. They have an area of some , with the vaults reaching up to in height. By area, the Roman baths of Varna are the fourth-largest among the preserved thermae in Europe, behind the Baths of Caracalla