A palaestra or palestra was any site of a Greek wrestling school in antiquity. Events requiring little space, such as boxing and wrestling, occurred there. Palaistrai functioned both independently and
The palaestra at Olympia, Greece
In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that exis
Palaestra
…to the Romans, παραδρομίδες, "paradromides" to the Greeks). During the Roman Imperial period the palaestra was often combined with, or joined to, a full bathing complex. When the Arabs and the Turks adopted the tradition of Roman baths as the hammam, they did not continue the tradition of the attached palaestra. Palaestra…
Roman public baths in Bath, England. The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is a later reconstruction.
Bulla Regia, inside the thermal baths
Mosaic bath sign from Sabratha, Libya, showing bathing sandals, three strigils, and the phrase SALVOM LAVISSE, expressing a hope that the bathers enjoyed their bathing
Pompeian interior, The Thermae by Forum by Joseph Theodor Hansen (1848–1912)