Forum Baths, Trier

The oldest bath complex in Roman Augusta Treverorum (modern Trier), with construction beginning in the second half of the 1st century AD adjacent to the Roman Forum. The baths were substantially rebuilt in the 4th century from earlier 2nd-century structures, encompassing 8,364 square metres with the caldarium and tepidarium oriented south for passive solar heating. The complex fell out of use in the early 5th century as Trier was repeatedly sacked during the Migration Period. Discovered accidentally in 1987 during excavation for an underground car park, the ruins were deemed so significant that the parking project was relocated. A protective glass-and-stone structure by architect Oswald Mathias Ungers now shelters the remains.