Furthermore, it was believed that certain illnesses were cured by warm and cold baths, as recorded in some of the stelai with the miracles of Asklepios, and the Romans had a particular fondness for bathhouse complexes. The Akoai were one of these and its name derives from the Latin word aqua, which means water.
The building is located at the northeast edge of the archaeological site. Built in the second century AD, it underwent later repairs and modifications, continuing to function into the fourth century AD. Its entrance led into an open court, to the right of which are the changing rooms (apodyteria) and the pool for the cold bath (frigidarium), and to the left the rooms for warm (tepidarium) and hot baths (caldarium).
As was usual in Roman thermae, the Akoai had a special system of furnaces for heating the chambers and the water. Hot air from the furnaces passed through ducts in the walls and circulated under the floors. At the same time, the water was heated too. The hottest room in the building was the sudatorium, a kind of sauna.
The Akoai building survives in very good condition. The walls had marble dadoes, the floors were paved with marble, and mosaics with geometric patterns are still preserved in the apodyteria.
