“Olympic” Pool Found in Western Turkey
Tralleis dig director discusses Roman pools, baths, and bathing
The monumental pool uncovered at the site of Tralleis in western Turkey. Courtesy Tralleis Excavation Archive / Prof. Dr. Murat Çekilmez. Excavations conducted under the authorization of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye.
A monumental open-air pool, discovered at the ancient city of Tralleis in western Turkey, looks remarkably like a modern pool. Yet, this familiar setting belonged to a very different world. Dated to around 2,000 years ago, and located within a bath-gymnasium complex, the pool was part of an architectural and social environment in which bathing, exercise, recreation, and social interaction were closely intertwined.
The roughly 121-by-39-foot pool, which is approximately 5 feet deep, has been described as “Olympic” by ancient standards. It was a cold water basin capable of accommodating some 300 people. Its water came from springs in the mountains north of the city, which were carried to Tralleis through a water supply system that extended about 35 miles. A drainage system also allowed the pool to be emptied quickly for cleaning.
To understand what the newly uncovered structure can tell us about daily life in the city, Bible History Daily spoke with Tralleis excavation director Murat Çekilmez, who is a professor of archaeology at Aydın Adnan Menderes University in Turkey.
What would a typical visit to the Tralleis pool have looked like in antiquity?
Çekilmez: The pool should not be understood simply as a place for swimming. It formed part of the much broader social and architectural environment of the site’s bath-gymnasium complex, where bathing, exercise, relaxation, conversation, and social interaction were closely connected.
General view of the bath-gymnasium complex at Tralleis. Courtesy Tralleis Excavation Archive / Prof. Dr. Murat Çekilmez. Excavations conducted under the authorization of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye.
A visitor entering this complex in the Roman imperial period would have experienced a carefully designed monumental setting. Movement through the building involved spaces with different functions and, particularly within the bathing areas, different temperatures. The pool would have contributed to this wider sequence of bodily care, recreation, and social activity.
Such complexes were among the principal meeting places of Roman cities. Citizens could exercise, bathe, meet acquaintances, discuss public and private matters, and spend considerable periods of the day there. The experience was therefore both physical and social. Water, monumental architecture, open spaces, and decorative elements together created an environment that expressed the prosperity and civic identity of Tralleis.
What does the pool tell us about life at Tralleis?
Çekilmez: The pool provides important evidence for understanding Tralleis not merely as a city of monumental buildings, but as a living urban community. Its dimensions and its relationship with the bath-gymnasium complex demonstrate the considerable resources devoted to public architecture, water management, recreation, and communal life.
Detail of monumental pool found at Tralleis with a three-arched façade of the gymnasium in the background. Courtesy Tralleis Excavation Archive / Prof. Dr. Murat Çekilmez. Excavations conducted under the authorization of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye.
Bath-gymnasium complexes in the cities of Roman Asia Minor occupied a particularly important position between Greek traditions of physical education and the Roman culture of public bathing. At Tralleis, the newly excavated pool allows us to investigate how these traditions were adapted within the specific social and architectural character of the city.
Above all, it gives us a glimpse of everyday human experience. Monumental architecture can sometimes make ancient cities seem distant and static. A pool is different: It immediately evokes movement, water, sound, conversation, and people gathering together. In this sense, the discovery brings us considerably closer to the inhabitants of ancient Tralleis.
What surprised you most about the discovery?
Çekilmez: What surprised me most was the monumentality and state of preservation of the pool, as well as the extent to which the discovery changed our understanding of this part of the bath-gymnasium complex.
Archaeological excavation often begins with architectural indications that allow us to formulate hypotheses about what may lie beneath the surface. However, as the excavation progressed, the scale and character of this structure became increasingly clear. Realizing that we were uncovering such a substantial pool within the complex was an especially exciting moment for our team.
For me, however, the most compelling aspect is not simply its size. It is the possibility of reconstructing how people actually experienced this space nearly 2,000 years ago. Archaeology is ultimately about people, and discoveries such as this allow monumental architecture to be interpreted in terms of movement, social interaction, daily routines, and urban life.
The pool therefore represents much more than an architectural discovery. It opens a new window onto the social life of Tralleis and provides us with an opportunity to reconsider how one of the major cities of western Anatolia functioned during the Roman imperial period.
Lauren K. McCormick is an assistant editor at Biblical Archaeology Review and a specialist in ancient Near Eastern religions, visual culture, and the Bible. She holds degrees in religion from Syracuse University, Duke University, New York University, and Rutgers University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship on religion and the public conversation at Princeton University.
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