Although I live in Athens since my birth I didn’t know the existence of this small museum in the area of Plaka and I confess that I just fell in it by chance. Yesterday, it was the day of the museums and I decided to visit a small and not so famous museum that wouldn’t be over crowded. It proved that I did the perfect choice!
The Bath House of the Winds is normally closed on Tuesday, but due to the special day I was able to visit it. A very kind man was waiting for the visitors in the entrance, forthcoming to give me the personal guide machine and inform me about the video that was showing in the special room.
According to its
official site the Bath House of the Winds is the only public bath of Athens surviving at the present days. It was in use until 1956 when it became property of the Ministry of Culture that restored it and opened it to the public. As my personal guide informed me, the bath was using at first by both men and women but in different hours or days. Walking through the five different rooms of the basement you could see the changing rooms, the tepid and the hot room.There were small glass holes allowing the light to penetrate and at some points the floor was also made of glass, allowing the visitor to see the lower level where hot air circulated through a network of earthenware pipes, heating up the floor and walls.
My guide machine gave details about each specific room and I should confess that after a while receiving so much knowledge was a bit tiring. However, the sensation of travelling back in time was really strong and I spent a lot of time in each room trying to imagine the place alive. In fact, it wasn’t so hard! I loved the colour of the walls and the simple decoration of the museum.
Even if the Bath house of the Winds is not my reccomendation for someone that visits Athens for few days, it is really interesting if you want to learn the not so famous story of this city and enjoy the feeling of exploring a museum that even Athenians barely know its existence.
