Chassenon Baths

{{Short description|Gallo-Roman bath complex in Chassenon, Charente, France}}

{{Infobox ancient site | name = Chassenon Baths | native_name = Thermes de Chassenon | native_name_lang = fr | alternate_name = Longeas Baths, Cassinomagus | image = Vue Unctorium Sud © ALFRAN.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = View of the southern unctorium | map_type = France Nouvelle-Aquitaine#France | map_alt = | map_caption = Location of Chassenon Baths in Nouvelle-Aquitaine and France | map_size = | mapframe = yes | coordinates = {{coord|45.8485|0.7707|display=inline,title}} | altitude_m = 215 | altitude_ref = | relief = | location = Chassenon, Charente, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France | region =Aquitaine, Aquitaine seconde, Civitas Lemovices | type = Roman baths | part_of = Cassinomagus | area = {{convert|25|ha|acres}} | built = c. 90 CE | abandoned = c. 6th century CE | epochs = High Roman Empire | cultures = Lemovices, Gallo-Roman | ownership = Charente Department | public_access = March to November; year-round for groups by reservation | other_designation = Monument historique | website = {{URL|https://www.cassinomagus.fr}} | notes = Coordinates sourced from Géoportail.{{Cite web|title=Vue aérienne du site|trans-title=Aerial view of the site|url=https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte?c=0.7707,45.8485&z=5&l=Photo-scan|website=Géoportail|language=fr|access-date=2025-06-30}}}}

The Chassenon Baths, formerly known as the "Longeas Baths," in Chassenon (within the Charente department) along the Via Agrippa, are among the best‑preserved bath complexes of the Gallo‑Roman world. They form part of the ancient city of Cassinomagus, integrated into a monumental complex that includes a vast sanctuary with the baths, a theater, and a temple. These are double Roman baths, serving both hygienic and therapeutic purposes, constructed over two levels and covering about {{convert|1.5|ha|acres}}.{{Cite book|last=Brethenoux|first=Jean-Paul|title=L'agglomération antique de Chassenon|trans-title=The ancient settlement of Chassenon|url=http://mediatheques.terresdehautecharente.fr/Default/doc/SYRACUSE/94785/l-agglomeration-antique-de-chassenon|publisher=Geste éditions|year=2012|isbn=978-2-36746-001-7 |language=fr}}{{Cite journal |last=Hourcade |first=David |date=1999 |title=Les thermes de Chassenon (Charente) : l'apport des fouilles récentes |trans-title=The thermal baths of Chassenon (Charente): findings from recent excavations |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/aquit_0758-9670_1999_num_16_1_1275 |journal=Aquitania |language=fr |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=153–177 |doi=10.3406/aquit.1999.1275}}

History

The Chassenon region was inhabited by the Lemovices, a Celtic people of Celtic Gaul. They were established in Roman Aquitaine, one of the three Roman provinces (alongside Belgica and Lyonnaise) created by Emperor Augustus in 27 BCE. Their capital was Augustoritum (modern Limoges). The city of Cassinomagus lay on the western border of the Lemovices' territory, near the Pictones (capital Poitiers), the Santones (Saintes), and the Petrocorii (Périgueux).{{Cite web |title=Histoire et héritage |trans-title=History and heritage |url=https://www.cassinomagus.fr/histoire-et-heritage?lang=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231203002516/https://www.cassinomagus.fr/histoire-et-heritage?lang=en |archive-date=December 3, 2023 |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Cassinomagus |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Carpentier |first1=Lucie |last2=Sicard |first2=Sandra |last3=Belingard |first3=Christelle |last4=Bertrand |first4=Isabelle |last5=Bujard |first5=Sophie |last6=Coutelas |first6=Arnaud |last7=Doulan |first7=Cécile |last8=Genies |first8=C. |last9=Grall |first9=Morgan |last10=Guédon |first10=Stéphanie |last11=Guéguen |first11=Jean-François |last12=Hourcade |first12=David |last13=Le Bomin |first13=Joachim |last14=Loiseau |first14=Christophe |last15=Rocque |first15=Gabriel |date=2021 |title=De l'agglomération antique de 'Cassinomagus' au village de Chassenon (Charente) : un bilan des connaissances |trans-title=From the ancient settlement of 'Cassinomagus' to the village of Chassenon (Charente): a review of current knowledge |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=8183346 |journal=Gallia: Archéologie de la France antique |volume=78 |language=fr |issue=78 |pages=57–94 |doi=10.4000/gallia.6119 |issn=0016-4119}}

File:Vue Palestre Cassinomagus 3D © Archéotransfert.jpg of the baths]]

Construction of the baths spanned about 90 years, beginning around 90 CE during the High Roman Empire and concluding around 180 CE. Visitors today can observe the ruins as they likely appeared by the late 2nd or early 3rd century.

A fire, presumed accidental due to the absence of recorded conflicts, destroyed the baths in the late 3rd century. The site was rebuilt in the 4th century, retaining its primary function but with reduced grandeur. Some hypocaust systems remained unrestored, and wooden floors were replaced with less costly materials like earth and sand. By the early 5th century, the baths transitioned into rural housing, continuing in this role until the 6th century, when they were abandoned and gradually buried.{{Cite journal|last1=Aupert|first1=Pierre|last2=Hourcade|first2=David|title=Les thermes doubles de Chassenon|trans-title=The double baths of Chassenon|journal=Les Dossiers d'archéologie|issue=323|date=September–October 2007|pages=18|issn=1141-7137|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203044203/http://www.arbre-celtique.com/encyclopedie/dossiers-de-l-archeologie-les-thermes-en-gaule-romaine-09-2007-7829.htm|archive-date=December 3, 2016|url=http://www.arbre-celtique.com/encyclopedie/dossiers-de-l-archeologie-les-thermes-en-gaule-romaine-09-2007-7829.htm|language=fr|access-date=June 30, 2025}}

The Chassenon Baths are classified as a historic monument and are owned by the Charente department. Excavations occurred from 1958 to 1988, uncovering much of the site, and resumed in 1995. Ongoing digs have deepened understanding of the baths' role and context, revealing an octagonal temple (Montélu), a theater, an aqueduct, and a water supply network within the monumental complex.

The double baths are open to visitors from March to November, and year‑round for groups by reservation.{{Cite web |date=June 1, 2025 |title=Cassinomagus Archaeological Park in Chassenon |url=https://www.angouleme-tourisme.com/en/cultural-heritage/cassinomagus-archaeological-park/ |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Angoulême Tourisme |language=en}}

File:Vue des thermes de Chassenon du Nord-Ouest.jpg|View of the baths from the northwest

File:Vue générale 2 Thermes Cassinomagus à Chassenon en Charente.jpg|General view of the baths from the southeast

File:Maquette ensemble monumental de Cassinomagus.jpg|Model of the Cassinomagus monumental complex

Structure

= Overview =

Geophysical surveys indicate the baths cover a square area of {{convert|120|m|ft}} per side, with about two-thirds currently excavated. Access was available directly from the Via Agrippa upon entering Cassinomagus.

= Ground floor =

The ground floor was a technical level for staff, housing:

A large northeast gallery of uncertain function.
A northern courtyard servicing latrines in the upper-left corner and the sewer network.
A vaulted passage from the northern courtyard leading to the first heating courtyard and multiple furnaces.
A vaulted passage from the heating courtyard accessing "ash rooms" likely used for storing furnace ash.
A southern heating courtyard serving additional furnaces (praefurnium).

Built on a slope, the site required vaulted rooms to level the upper floor for bathers. Staff did not enter these areas during public use. Furnaces in the heating courtyards used local wood to heat bronze boilers, warming water and air for the hypocaust system. The hypocausts have radiating channels with wall-anchored tubuli.{{Cite journal |last=Duménil |first=Vincent |date=2017 |title=Catalogue renseigné (non exhaustif) des projets de conservation et de valorisation des dispositifs de chauffage mis en œuvre pendant l'Antiquité |trans-title=Annotated (non-exhaustive) catalog of conservation and enhancement projects for heating systems used in antiquity |url=https://www.academia.edu/36782186 |journal=Actes de la XIIe édition des Rencontres d'archéologie Pyrénées-Méditerranée |language=fr |pages=21–23 |access-date=June 30, 2025}}

File:Thermes romains de Chassenon.JPG|Heating furnaces

File:Thermes de Chassenon8.JPG|Set of furnaces in the northern heating courtyard

File:Chassenon - Cassinomagus 29.jpg|Western elevation

File:Cassinomagus11180130.jpg|Northern service courtyard

File:Chassenon - Cassinomagus 21.jpg|Vaulted foundation room of the baths

= Upper floor =

The upper floor was designed for bathers and therapeutic visitors, with the symmetrical layout of imperial double baths, with duplicated palaestrae, gymnasiums, frigidaria, and heated rooms, following a central-to-peripheral path.

== Bathers' circuit ==

File:Thermes Chassenon1.svg File:Salle piscines Cassinomagus 3D © Archéotransfert.jpgThe northern circuit catered to athletic bathers, who passed through a large oak-floored gymnasium, a small cleaning and anointing room, and then either proceeded to the central tepidarium (a warm room of {{convert|230|m2|sqft}}) or directly to the frigidarium. Non-athletes crossed the gymnasium to a small heated room, then to the entry tepidarium, a dry sauna, a wet sauna, an exit tepidarium, and the frigidarium, where they could swim in a small or large outdoor pool.

== Therapeutic circuit ==

The southern circuit, for therapeutic visitors, turned left through a small heated room, the entry tepidarium, deep warm pools ({{convert|1.25|m|ft}} deep), and the therapeutic frigidarium, with access to an indoor pool.

File:Système d'hypocauste des thermes romains de Chassenon.JPG|Hypocaust system

File:Chassenon thermes4.JPG|Furnaces and hypocaust pillars

File:Chassenon thermes6.JPG|Western warm pool

File:Cassinomagus11180128.JPG|Heating furnace

File:Chassenon thermes6a.JPG|3D view of the same pool

== Additional structures ==

The baths are flanked by two {{convert|50|m|ft}}-long ash-wood-floored galleries, extending eastward to the entrance forecourt.{{Cite web |last1=Chayani |first1=Mehdi |last2=Mora |first2=Pascal |last3=Espinasse |first3=Loïc |title=Les thermes de Longeas, Chassenon – Charente. vers une restitution 3D |trans-title=The Longeas Baths, Chassenon – Charente: Towards a 3D reconstruction |url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/aanIcUtGQ0w |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=youtube.com |publisher=Archéotransfert (UMS Archeovision, CNRS / Université de Bordeaux-Montaigne) |language=fr |type=video}} Outside, two pools and two palaestrae served as solariums, one for each circuit.

== Materials and decoration ==

Pool floors were made of limestone or marble, with many rooms having wooden flooring. The construction used limestone and impactite stones, the latter formed by a meteorite impact creating the Rochechouart-Chassenon crater. These impactites, varied in color and texture, are resistant to temperature and frost and were quarried south of Longeas. Limestone slabs for wall and floor coverings came from Charente, while granite was sourced from Haute-Vienne.

File:Chassenon - Cassinomagus 22.jpg|Heating conduit

File:Chassenon - Cassinomagus 2.jpg|Hypocaust pillars

File:Chassenon 4.JPG|Window bay

File:Chassenon thermes12.JPG|Limestone slabs of a pool

File:Chassenon 17 breche.JPG|Impactite, a construction stone of the baths

Water system

The baths required at least {{convert|629|m3|cuft}} of water to operate. A primary aqueduct supplied the site, with a secondary aqueduct delivering water to the baths' entrance. Lead pipes fed cold basins and boilers. Wastewater was managed through three systems: a peripheral circuit for rainwater, an underground circuit for basin drainage, and a sewer for latrine cleaning, controlled by valves.{{Cite journal|last1=Bobée|first1=Cécilia|last2=Marmet|first2=Eric|last3=Tabbagh|first3=Alain|title=Stratégies d'approvisionnement en eau dans l'agglomération gallo-romaine de Cassinomagus (Chassenon, Charente)|trans-title=Water supply strategies in the Gallo-Roman settlement of Cassinomagus (Chassenon, Charente)|journal=ArcheoSciences|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180602062227/https://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/742|archive-date=June 2, 2018|issue=31|year=2007|volume=31 |pages=45–58|doi=10.4000/archeosciences.742 |url=https://journals.openedition.org/archeosciences/742|language=fr|access-date=June 30, 2025}}

Present day

= Visiting =

The Chassenon Baths and the archaeological park offer guided tours or audio guides. In 2010, visitor numbers reached 20,000 annually.{{Cite web |last=Servant |first=Patrick |title=Cassinomagus an 2011 |trans-title=Cassinomagus year 2011 |url=https://www.charentelibre.fr/2011/03/14/cassinomagus-an-2011,1025599.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519063231/https://www.charentelibre.fr/charente/chassenon/cassinomagus-an-2011-6447653.php |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |access-date=June 30, 2025 |website=Charente Libre |date=14 March 2011 |language=fr}}

= Tourism development =

In the 2010s, development plans included external improvements (welcome center, ancient gardens, pathways, parking), completed by 2012–2013. A second phase proposed replacing protective roofing with a {{convert|10000|m2|sqft}} translucent velum dome and building a walkway from the welcome center, costing €9 million. Delayed from 2013 to 2014 due to state funding cuts,{{Cite news |last=Servant |first=Patrick |date=June 4, 2013 |title=Chassenon : le grand chantier repoussé à 2014 |trans-title=Chassenon: The major project postponed to 2014 |url=http://www.charentelibre.fr/2013/06/04/chassenon-le-grand-chantier-repousse-a-2014,1838874.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519060851/https://www.charentelibre.fr/charente/chassenon/chassenon-le-grand-chantier-repousse-a-2014-6267907.php |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |access-date=June 30, 2025 |work=Charente Libre |language=fr}} the project was canceled in April 2015 by the Charente Departmental Council due to high costs.{{Cite news |last=Pasquier |first=Julie |date=April 13, 2015 |title=Arrêt des travaux à Chassenon: les élus locaux en colère |trans-title=Chassenon work stoppage: Local officials outraged |url=http://www.charentelibre.fr/2015/04/13/arret-des-travaux-a-chassenon-les-elus-locaux-en-colere,1950028.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519043856/https://www.charentelibre.fr/charente/chassenon/arret-des-travaux-a-chassenon-les-elus-locaux-en-colere-6186517.php |archive-date=May 19, 2022 |access-date=June 30, 2025 |work=Charente Libre |language=fr}}

= Research =

The Charente Departmental Council acquired surrounding land for further excavations to uncover the full palaestra and aqueducts. The temple and theater areas have been surveyed but not excavated. Since 2003, the TherMoNat project has studied the baths' monumental and natural context, focusing on water management. Excavations from 1995 to 2014 were led by David Hourcade (1995–1999, 2003, 2005–2006, 2009–2010, 2012), Stéphane Lebreton (2000), Gabriel Rocque (2009–2010), and Sandra Sicard (2014).

File:Chassenon 2.JPG|Southeast entrance of the baths

File:Maquette coupe thermes de Chassenon.jpg|Cross-sectional model of the baths

References

External links

{{Cite web|title=Site officiel des Thermes de Chassenon – Cassinomagus|trans-title=Official site of the Chassenon Baths – Cassinomagus|url=http://www.cassinomagus.fr|website=Cassinomagus|language=fr|access-date=June 30, 2025}}
{{Cite web|title=Site officiel de la Société des Amis de Chassenon|trans-title=Official site of the Friends of Chassenon Society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205074228/http://amis.chassenon.free.fr/|archive-date=December 5, 2006|url=http://amis.chassenon.free.fr|website=amis.chassenon.free.fr|language=fr|access-date=June 30, 2025}}
{{Cite web|title=Reconstitution 3D – parc archéologique Cassinomagus |trans-title=3D reconstruction – Cassinomagus archeological park |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aanIcUtGQ0w|website=Youtube|publisher=Département de la Charente|language=fr|access-date=June 30, 2025}}

Category:Ancient Roman baths in France

Category:Archaeological sites in France

Category:Buildings and structures in Charente

Category:Lemovices

Category:Ancient Roman architecture

Category:Tourist attractions in Charente