Hot waters used for two thousand years
On the banks of the Tirso, the longest river in Sardinia, in the province of Oristano, Fordongianus is a small village of houses built of red trachyte, a volcanic stone that gives the whole village a warm, pinkish colour. In Roman times it was Forum Traiani, an important town and military garrison founded to control the populations of the interior, the Barbagia, and a spa centre famous for its hot springs.
The Roman baths, among the best preserved in Sardinia, stand on the bank of the river, where the thermal water still gushes out at a temperature of about 54 degrees. You can see the large rectangular pool of the first century AD, with a portico where the bathers rested, fed directly by the spring, and the remains of the later bath complex, with the frigidarium, tepidarium and calidarium, heated by the underfloor system of the "hypocaust". The water, rich in minerals, is still used today by a modern spa next to the archaeological site, where you can bathe in thermal pools. In the village, the Casa Aragonese, a sixteenth century noble house in Catalan Gothic style, and the church of San Lussorio, a Romanesque church built over the tomb of a martyr, are worth a visit.
Tip: in winter, the steam rising from the river near the baths is a magical sight; the spa is open all year.
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