A magnificent and luxurious villa belonging to the coastal resort city of Stabiae in ancient Rome boasts features that seem to belong to modern times.
According to Heritage Daily, it features a perfect water system serving the villa complex, complete with a massive communal hot bath, a large gym, and numerous other rooms that required water, designed with the same convenience as modern plumbing systems.
This water pipe is… 2,000 years old – (Photo: POMPEII ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK)
The system includes two main pipes connected to a central water tank located in a skylight, supplying water throughout the 2,500m2 villa complex, with a network of pipes regulating water flow to different rooms, equipped with valves for opening and closing, just like modern faucets, and designed for easy maintenance.
Shocking is the fact that this villa complex is at least 2,000 years old.
According to a research team from the Pompeii Archaeological Park in Italy, this villa complex was first excavated between 1757 and 1762, but studies have continued to this day.
It is just one among a series of luxurious villas stretching several miles belonging to the ancient Roman aristocracy, located in a small coastal town called Stabiae. Roman emperors like Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Tiberius also owned villas in this area.
Ancient Stabiae, now part of the province of Naples in Italy, was buried alongside the city of Pompeii and the nearby town of Herculaneum under thick layers of ash during the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Ruins of the “modern” villa built over 2,000 years ago, after hundreds of years of efforts to remove volcanic ash – (Photo: POMPEII ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK)
This disaster left behind the famous “frozen in time” figures of Pompeii and buried numerous structures showcasing the “timeless” civilization of the Romans.
This is not the first “time-traveling” discovery found in these buried cities. Many previous structures have revealed the astonishing scientific and technical advancements along with the “modern” lifestyle of the Romans, such as high-tech cobblestone roads that have lasted for 2,000 years, or a “pedestrian street” with a takeaway food stall.
Advanced water supply and drainage systems served the Romans’ relaxation preferences in public hot baths, and beautifully decorated fountains have also been discovered here, but this new finding has taken their ingenuity to another level, showcasing their incredible capabilities.
