Cities, villages, fortresses - Valais (Wallis) - Martigny - Baths and water supply

Introduction The forum Houses and workshops Baths and water supply Gallo-Roman temples

The precinct of temple II The mithraeum The amphitheatre Christianity Burials

Two large baths were discovered, to the west of the Forum and in the south-western part of the city. The Baths of the Forum, only partially excavated, are in the south-western corner of insula 2. The building is of particular interest because of the presence of a large latrine (L).

Plan of the Baths of the Forum. Archäologie der Schweiz 5,1 (1982), fig. 19.

View of the latrine in the Baths of the Forum. Annales valaisannes 52 (1977), Pl. III.

Reconstruction drawing of the latrine in the Baths of the Forum. Annales valaisannes 52 (1977), 210 fig. 2.

The baths in the south-western part of the settlement, partially excavated in 1974 and 1991, were built in the second century.

Plan of the south-western baths. A, B, D, E, H, M, TB: heated rooms; C, TC: praefurnia; F, TA: basins. Vallesia 47 (1992), Pl. IX.

View of heated rooms B and D from heating room C. Annales valaisannes 50 (1975), Pl. I,1.

Some 75 meters to the east fragments were found of an inscription documenting a restoration of baths, perhaps these.

[B]ALNEAS VI IGNIS AB SVMPTAS M(arcus) AVFIDIVS MA XIMVS V(ir) E(gregius) PROC(urator) AVG(usti) N(ostri) PRAESES PROVINCIAE [ad pristin]AM FACIEM [restau?]RAVIT	The baths by the violence of fire consumed, Marcus Aufidius Maximus, distinguished man, procurator or our Emperor, governor of the province, to their former appearance restored.
Limestone slab. W. 0.63, h. 0.34. EDCS-03700525. Photo: Vallesia 45 (1990), Pl. V, B.

As to the water-supply: on various locations fragments of an inscription mentioning an aqueduct and a nymphaeum have been found. Both were built following an order from Emperor Valerianus in 253 AD. The Emperor may have visited the city.

[Imp(erator) Caesar P(ublius) Lic]INIV[s Va]LERIANVS [Pius Felix Invi]CTVS [A]VGVSTVS [restituto]R ORBIS [F(oro)cl(audiensibus) Vallen]SIBVS SVIS [aqua]M PERDVC[i et nim]FAEVM EXST[rui ius]SIT [---]ORIVS SEVE[--- v(ir) e(gregius)] PRO[cur]ATOR DE[vo]TVS NVMI[ni maiestatiq]VE E[ius f(aciendum) c(uravit)]	Emperor Caesar Publius Licinius Valerianus, pious, happy, invincible, Augustus, restorer of the world, to his inhabitants of the Forum of Claudius in the Valley to carry an aqueduct and build a nymphaeum gave the order. [---]orius Seve[---], eminent man, procurator, devoted to his divine power and majesty, took care of the work.
Fragments of an inscription. Limestone. W. 1.66, h. 0.61. 253 AD. EDCS-09301094. Van Berchem-Wiblé 1982, Pl. X, B.

Part of the inscription had been found in 1938-1939 near the intersection of the Rue Principale and the Rue du Nymphée. Nearby, directly to the north-west of the intersection, remains had been found of a possible nymphaeum, a fountain house, in 1936. Not much is known about it. It had a white marble floor. In 1907 a short stretch of an underground aqueduct was identified to the south of the city, in Martigny-Bourg.

The intersection of the Rue Principale and the Rue du Nymphée with the location of the nymphaeum.
Annales valaisannes 57 (1982), 161 fig. 1.

Introduction The forum Houses and workshops Baths and water supply Gallo-Roman temples

The precinct of temple II The mithraeum The amphitheatre Christianity Burials

[2-Feb-2024]