Totally Rome
Baths of Diocletian
Once the largest bath complex in the Roman Empire — now partly a Michelangelo-designed church.
The scale
Completed in 306 AD under Diocletian, this was the largest of Rome's imperial bath complexes, capable of accommodating up to 3,000 bathers simultaneously — larger even than the Baths of Caracalla. The site now houses part of the Museo Nazionale Romano, a train station forecourt, and one of Rome's most unusual churches.
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
In 1561, Michelangelo was commissioned to convert the great central hall (the tepidarium) into a church — he preserved the massive original granite columns and the sheer scale of the Roman space rather than disguising it, creating an interior unlike any other church in Rome. A brass meridian line set into the floor in 1702 still functions as a sundial.
The museum collection
The adjoining Museo Nazionale Romano galleries display Roman inscriptions, sculpture and a substantial epigraphy collection within the surviving bath structure — a quieter, more contemplative counterpart to the Colosseum crowds a short walk away.
Location
Directly opposite Termini station — an easy first or last stop for anyone arriving or departing by train.
