A MODERN-TIME BATH IN THE MANOR IN RADZIEJOWICE (Nowozytna laznia dworska w Radziejowicach)

• Authors: Bis Wojciech
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Although baths are often mentioned in written sources, the number of surviving baths discovered in archaeological excavations is very small. Among the hypocaust furnaces revealed on the present territory of Poland only a few have been recognized as bath structures (the finds in Frombork, Malbork, Puck and Trzemeszno). In several other cases it can only be hypothesized that they had functioned as bath facilities, contrary to the assumptions taken by their discoverers; this concerns the finds from Oporów, Strzelno, Lubiaz, Wroclaw and Stebark. The aforementioned bath furnaces come from the late Middle Ages and early modern period; they are dated to the 13th-17th c. A hypocaust bath furnace was discovered during the preliminary archaeological exploration of the manor farm in Radziejowice (region of Mazovia) in the years 2005-2006. The furnace, which was used in the first half of the17th c., and possibly until the end of the18th c., is the newest facility of that type found on the present territory of Poland. In terms of structure it is different from most of the furnaces explored so far. Its large size, the lack of arches and heat accumulators and the method of heat transmission make it similar to ancient devices of that sort. In Roman baths it was the floor (suspensura) together with a system of pipes (tubuli) in the walls that accumulated heat. The chamber with the furnace was part of a larger bath complex, which offered the users not only hygienic facilities but also entertainment. Similar baths were probably built in magnate residences in the first half of the 17th c., e.g. in the Kazanowski Palace in Warsaw. Facilities of similar structure and function were found in baths built as late as in the 19th c. (e.g. in Cielesnica).

• Publisher: Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historii Kultury Materialnej
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 141-159
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Bis Wojciech

• Wojciech Bis, Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN, Al. Solidarnosci 105, 00-140 Warszawa, Poland

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11PLAAAA092818