Just outside the deserted village of Rebeccu, the outcropping masonry of Sas Presones clearly indicates the spot where a Roman-era thermal bath facility once stood.
The building directly intercepted the springs of the underlying plain, channeling the water flows into an articulated system of basins and channels. The surviving walls adopt a well-defined technique: blocks of dark rock interspersed with regular courses of red terracotta bricks, used to give stability to the structure and properly insulate the interiors.
The layout of the rooms reflects the different phases of the ancient bath. The sequence of the rooms shows the bathers' path from the cold sectors to the tepid and hot ones. Beneath the flooring emerge the small terracotta pillars that elevated the walking surface: in the underlying cavity and in the flues inserted into the walls flowed the hot air continuously produced by the hearths placed just outside the building.
When the baths ceased to function, the local population lost the memory of their use and mistook the underground rooms for old prisons, baptizing the ruins with the Sardinian name of Sas Presones. The complex remains a clear example of how Rome's building technology managed resource control and heating even in the heart of the island's interior.
