I "trugli" dei Bagni di Pozzuoli. Immagine e fortuna di due edifici termali antichi

The seismic activity and the earthquakes that hit the area of the Campi Flegrei in 1536-1538 led to the destruction of two thermal buildings, called “trugli”, which were part of the complex of Baths at Pozzuoli, the existence of which is proven by some precious drawings of the 15th and 17th centuries. By correlating an analysis of these drawings by Giuliano da Sangallo, Antoine Morillon, Pirro Ligorio, Giovan Battista Montano and others with a study of the literary, topographical, and archaeological sources relating to the Campi Flegrei, one can reconstruct, at least hypothetically, the history and characteristics of the two “trugli”. The first, with a dodecagonal plan, was in Tripergole, a village near the Lake of Lucrino; the second, by contrast, had a centralized space surrounded by eight smaller rooms, and was located on the coast of Pozzuoli. The latter, particularly, may also have been used by later architects as an all’antica model, as evidenced by the similarities with some projects by Filippo Brunelleschi and Leonardo da Vinci.