Like Caesar Augustus and Hadrian, Caracalla undertook a series of architectural projects to make himself famous, and this bath complex became one of his favourite projects. Imagine that you are in a place with several units, such as an outdoor pool called a notation, an indoor cold-water pool called a frigidarium, a warm-water pool called a tepidarium, and a warm-water pool called a caldarium. On the sides are changing rooms, gyms, courtyards, private bathrooms, a library, and a conference room.

Every time you enter the Baths of Caracalla, you try to imagine where the water that animated them was in ancient times. To swim, regenerate or spend a day dedicated to well-being. Now, thanks to a courageous and cutting-edge intervention by the Special Superintendence of Rome, it will be possible to relive the vitality and power of the water at the Baths of Caracalla. To which he returns after 1500 years. “With this spectacular Mirror we wish to trigger a process of renewal and opening up to the city in one of the most important archaeological sites of the Capital – explains Daniela Porro, special superintendent of Rome -. An intervention of contemporary architecture that harmonises with the ancient one to consolidate the role of the Baths of Caracalla as a centre promoting culture and art. The return of the water is intended to be a concrete symbol of reconnection with the ancient.”

A pool with a linear shape, which intentionally recalls that of the Natatio, simple lines which, in a play of presence and absence, place the monument and the visitor at the centre, with a stage on the water which will have the function of hosting theatrical performances, conferences, dance shows or classical music concerts. This is a reversal of the concept of the visitor who usually experiences the archaeological site passively but who instead becomes the absolute protagonist of the space and events. The inauguration of the Specchio d’acqua as a performance venue will be the Roman premiere of the choreography curated by Ater Balleto of Rhapsody in Blue on the centenary of the creation of this score by George Gershwin.