The heating system of Piccole Terme in Baia: some hypotheses

Piccole Thermae in Baia, well known to whom deal with archaeology, are a little jewel from the thermo-technical perspective as they are the first example of heating system based upon renewable sources of energy. Unfortunately, as for all the antiquity baths, their thermo-technical mode of operation is known only from a merely qualitative point of view. This means that the principles of operation are well known due to the possibility to detect the presence of some components, but there are no reliable technical data on the installations.Probably due to the lack of an updated mapping, the studies and research carried up until now on the Piccole Termae in Baia mainly focused the description and the understanding of the formal and historical characteristics of the archaeological complex. In few words, this site is a challenge for those, like the engineers, who approach on tiptoe to the fascinating and engaging world of the archaeology trying to transfer some knowledge to their research field. In particular, this paper presents a dimensioned plan of the Piccole Thermae’s building and the graphic outline of some of the mail elements of the thermo-technical system that represents a first fundamental step for the reconstruction of the mode of operation of the whole system.