Kourion Complex Palace

Continued from scan 6

… -7-

idarium. The location of the calidarium in the south-west corner was advised by Vitruvius and was generally employed because a room so situated would receive the greatest amount of sun in the afternoon when the baths were most used.

It has not yet been excavated from the inside, but from the part cleared on the outside, its main lines are evident. The upper part, when excavated, was found filled near the top with heavy architectural blocks, which appeared to lie without any order but rather just as they fell. Above the blocks was a large number of building tiles. The semi-circular holes on the sides of these two rooms were used for the removal of smoke and in these indentations, the lowest layer of black burnt fill was inclined upwards where it had been drawn by the updraft of the smoke.

The water supply for these baths is a problem for which at present, I have no positive solution. There is a large reservoir built on the bedrock above the baths, but the pipes leading out from this reservoir do not lead in the general direction of the baths. Certainly it would seem that the rain-water would hardly fill all these baths, in as much as people prided themselves on the cleanness of the water for the baths.

In addition to the baths proper, the rooms O,M,A,C, and X were excavated. Room M contained a series of superimposed floors of which all but the lowest had a trod surface leading from the door to the middle of the north wall. The lowest had holes which contained burnt black matter with bits of nut shells. Where the pipe went with its broken upper surface or for what purpose it was laid, I do not know. Room O had a flight of steps leading up from the court below and in the middle of the room, a hole was cut in the bed rock, opening into a cave in the bed rock, a hole was cut in the bed rock, opening into a cave in the bed rock, opening into a cave in the bed rock. The bed rock is not only on the bed-rock of the cellar but in the corner between the bed-rock not only on the bed-rock of the cellar but in the corner between the bed-rock and a man-made wall which ran across this cave in a north-south direction. As the stairs lead into the central court, this water was probably stored for use used for the storage of water, as is shown by the traces of hydraulic cement