Mezzagnone Baths of Santa Croce Camerina
The Bagni di Mezzagnone are thermal baths dating back to the Arab era, located in the area of Santa Croce Camerina, and built inside an older monument, dating back to shortly after 553 AD, which in terms of size and characteristics is believed to have been a tomb, a mausoleum of a very important family. This building was once known as "Mezzagnuni", or "U Dammusu".
This monument has been fully preserved to this day, but it was already famous and known in the sixteenth century: Tommaso Fazello in 1558 reports that there were three baths in the area , built close to the path of the Santa Croce river. Unfortunately only one of these three bathrooms remains, the other two have been dismantled and the stone blocks used for other constructions. In the eighteenth century the French painter Jean Houel portrayed him in a guache and in an etching, which are now found in the Louvre Museum in Paris and in the Hermitage.
