Hamat Gader - Roman baths

The Roman baths in Hamat Gader are unusually well preserved. From the entrance hall a pillared doorway of the fourth century (rebuilt) leads to the various rooms in the baths. The first room, the tepidarium, contains a large basin which would be filled with warm water; it seems to have been the most sumptuous room in the whole establishment. To the south of this is a small basin which may have been used by sufferers from leprosy.

Beyond this again is the oval hot bath (caldarium), fed by an adjoining spring with water at a temperature of 52°C/126°F; since this was too hot for comfort, cold water had to be continually added. Other elements in the baths were another small caldarium, the pool containing the spring and a large cold bath (frigidarium), only partly excavated, housed in a spacious open hall.